


Jak

by Ways



Category: Jak and Daxter
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-13
Updated: 2019-07-13
Packaged: 2020-06-27 18:00:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 39,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19796113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ways/pseuds/Ways
Summary: Even the greatest of heroes have things they wouldn't dare to share. Here lie the 25 things Jak would never tell a living soul. 5. Keira, Daxter and Samos were always there for him, even after being exposed to his dark form.





	1. Prologue: The List

**Author's Note:**

> In the spirit of uploading old things, here's something from way back in 2013. A Jak and Daxter fic that I likely won't finish but oh well.  
> This one is based off of the fics "Ulrich" and "Yumi" by Lune Solei over on FFN which I still highly recommend to this day.

1\. He often looked back at his time in Sandover, and would trade anything in the world to get them back.

2\. He always loved Kiera but things became complicated when he met Ashlin, it only got worse due to their separation during the Dark Maker Conflict.

3\. The day he meet Daxter was the best day of his life.

4\. Channeling the different color ecos felt incredible. He missed it.

5\. Kiera, Daxter and Samos were always there for him, even after being exposed to his dark form.

6\. Gol, Mia, Kor and Errol- hell even Praxis and Krew were an example to him; it showed him to never let his dark side gain full control.

7\. He never liked to talk about the days in the Dark Warrior Program.

8\. The Dark Warrior Program only got worse when Dark Jak gained a physical voice.

9\. Daxter was always able to cheer him up.

10\. Dark Jak had a tendency to go for joy rides using Jak's body.

11\. He saw a lot of himself in the kid, it's no wonder that the boy was his younger self.

12\. Sometime between the Fall of Praxis and the Dark Maker Conflict Jak tried to end it all.

13\. Light Jak was the only thing to calm Jak of all his built up rage.

14\. He still can't believe Daxter is a Precursor.

15\. Even after Damas' funeral Jak still grieved for the man.

16\. Samos was like a father to Jak and when Damas died he needed him most.

17\. He enjoyed having unlimited access to the Naughty Ottsle.

18\. During the season of Combat Racing he participated in he received a large mass of fame. His light form enjoyed the crowds whereas Dark Jak hated it. Jak loathed the arguing between the two.

19\. When Mizo said that he had a "Knack for leaving people to die." Despite brushing it off it still cut very deep.

20\. Being betrayed by Rayne hurt him more then he'd admit.

21\. Despite being a great hero he had been saved by Kiera three times in his life.

22\. The warring thirds of his body nearly drove him to insanity.

23\. Choosing between Ashlin and Kiera was a long process.

24\. Deciding between Haven and Spargus killed him, both areas needed him.

25\. It killed him to see each of his forms come out in his children.


	2. Chapter 1: Sandover

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the first official chapter I hope I do this right. Now each chapter is gonna go a chronological order through Jak's life only in parts relating to the confession in this chapter. Once again this is based off of the fanfic 'Ulrich' by Lune Solei so you should give that a read if you're a Lyoko fan.
> 
> *Note* Jak is five at the events of Jak 2 and the beginning of his time in Sandover.

_1\. He often looked back at his time in Sandover, and would trade anything in the world to get them back._

* * *

The boy looked at the young man holding him. He wore a dark blue tunic with a steel shoulder pad on his right shoulder as well as a silver ring on his chest and white pants and brown hunting boots. The boy didn't understand that this was his seventeen year old self. Older Jak smiled at the boy. "And stay away from any wump bee nests on your eleventh birthday."

The boy nodded taking into account the young warriors words as he sat him down in the metal pod. The young Samos then clicked the many dials and controls and the boy could feel the gentle hum of the engine of the rift rider.

The machine lifted into the air ever so gently and the two figures approached the rift gate. "And don't worry! We'll be back in time for the celebration!" His Samos had called before the two had then disappeared into the blue light of the rift off to explore the old world.

Samos and the young Jak had been walking through this mysterious new world for days; they were now residing in the blue sages hut.

The boy was watching Samos converse with the strange man with a blue tint to his skin. Jak had seen this with the other Sages he had encountered in this strange new world and he could never understand why each man had this. He of course would later learn that it was due to overexposure to whatever color eco they work with.

The blue sage smiled. "Well Samos, that's quite a story you've told me."

"Yes," Samos agreed. "Quite strange isn't it?"

"But you have great manipulation over green eco is that right?" The Blue Sage had asked.

"Yes," The old man confirmed. "That is correct and like the other sages I have also had access to the life seed to reach a sage like level."

The Blue Sage nodded. "Well there's a village across the Fire Canyon that's in need of a Sage and I've seen you use your eco powers before."

"Very well," Samos says. "Me and the boy will travel to this village. What method of travel shall we use?"

"Well…" The intellectual man says. "As a Sage you know that I am able to channel eco."

"Well of course." Samos agrees. "I know that Eco Sages can channel eco and although they can manipulate all types of eco that they have complete mastery over a certain color."

"Yes," The Blue Eco Sage responds. "Meaning using the electrical capabilities of blue eco and following the idea that it increases the speed of channelers I should be able to teleport you to this village."

"I hate, teleporting!" Samos argued. "Isn't there another way?"

"Well the next shipment of yackow milk comes in two weeks," The man confirmed. "Other than that, it'll be some time."

"Very well," Samos sighed. "We'll teleport tomorrow morning."

"Fantastic!" The Sage smiled.

"What is the name of this village?" Samos asked.

"Sandover Village." The man confirmed.

Though the child didn't understand all they had talked about he did understand that he was heading to a new place where he would live and grow and become the hero he needed to be.

* * *

"There you go Samos." The Blue Eco said as they appeared in a new place.

"Thank you." The man in question smiled.

"As for becoming a Sage, I'll talk to the Red and Yellow Sages about it and we should be ok."

"Thank you, very much." The man smiled.

"For now, there's an empty hut the two of you can take." The Sage explained. "But when you become a Sage you can take the old Green Eco Sage's place."

"I understand." Samos confirmed.

"So long, then." The Eco Sage said before being enveloped in blue eco and vanishing, yet he left a small scorch mark on the ground.

"Well, Jak." Samos said turning to the child. "This is our new home."

Jak nodded. He looked around to see the place was much more lush and green than Haven or any of the other places he had been in. There were many wooden huts that were scattered throughout the area on the green grass, which is something Jak had never seen before they had walked through the mountain pass. There was also a large blue ocean and a dock that lead to a speed boat. But the most fascinating thing about the village was the large two story hut that had a giant wind mill on top of it just away from the village.

This new place looked promising and although Jak missed the world of Haven and his father, who at this point he had a vauge image of, he would learn to enjoy this place and forget about the past.

* * *

A six year old Jak lied in the cool waters of Sentinel Beach enjoying himself. The sky was a clear blue with the sun shining brightly making the sand sparkle like shining diamonds. The water was the perfect temperature to cool off the young tanned boy. He smiled to himself as he was very much enjoying the day and was very laid back.

Splash!

Water was sprayed at Jak and he looked to see a young girl with light skin, teal hair, and sky blue eyes smirked at him. This was of course the young Kiera, the girl that Samos had taken under his wing after the woman he ended up falling for and the mother of this child had died in a Lurker attack.

Jak wanted to give the girl a piece of his mind, he gave her an annoyed glare before he splashed her back.

The young girl was soaked and the young Jak chuckled at this.

"Hey," Kiera complained. "Not funny Jak!"

The boy continued to chuckle before he was splashed in the face by the girl again. Jak got a determined look on his face as the two began to playfully splash each other with water.

Samos who was watching the two children playing in the water smiled as the two were playing.

The two were continued to play, as if they didn't have a care in the world.

* * *

A seven year old Jak had been told that a world traveler would be moving to the village and it excited him. His two best friends Daxter and Kiera didn't seem to care all that much but for Jak this man could tell him so many stories and maybe even take Jak on an adventure as well.

Now Jak, Daxter and Kiera were helping the balding man with a large blonde mustache who wore a red and blue shirt stylized in the British flag help move his stuff into the hut Samos had left for him.

Jak and the man were doing more of the heavy lifting as Jak had developed a small amount of strength over time, due to the amount of physical activity he had undertaken. This caused him to gain a small amount of muscle.

"That's it! Move those boxes there please." The man pointed to an empty space in the round hut.

Jak did so and moved the box to its designated area.

Kiera and Daxter were busy with helping the man as well, but they began to tire. The man noticed this. "Why don't you three take a break?" He had suggested in his foreign accent.

The kids nodded and ran off. The man smiled that he had the help of the three children.

Upon arrival to Daxter's hut (the one empty hut nearest to Samos's hut) they rested and Daxter's mother was glad to give his son and his two hard working friends some water.

The 3 lie on Daxter's bed and the young red head sighed. "Why are we helping this old geezer anyways?"

"It's fun to help people!" Kiera replied. Jak nodded in agreement.

"NO!" Daxter yelled. "What's fun is swimming at the beach or playing with The Sculptors Muse, not moving stuff for some geezer."

Jak glared at Daxter. Kiera looked at him too. "Daxter, Jak wanted to help the guy."

"Yeah…" Daxter sighed. "He just ran to the guy as soon as he saw him moving his stuff. What was that all about anyways?"

Jak knew that he wanted to help out the man in hopes of befriending him but he just gave Daxter a shrug.

"Jak's been very interested in him ya'know." Kiera confirmed. "He's always perked up when Samos or one of the adults mentions him."

Jak nodded in agreement knowing Kiera was able to understand his body language. Though Daxter was one of his best friends as well he was unable to fully understand the boy.

"Well I just think that it's a waste of time." Daxter pestered.

Jak just sighed as he knew Daxter was unable to understand Jak's interest in the man.

* * *

"Well hello ma' boy!" The same adventurer smiled as he greeted an eight year old Jak who had just entered the hut. Over the past year, Jak had been hanging around the hut quite often. This of course hadn't gone unnoticed by the man so at one point he had just invited Jak to come into his hut. Of course Jak had kept returning to the man's hut but nevertheless the man still welcomed the boy with open arms as he developed a strong liking for the boy. Now it had become an unspoken ritual between the two for Jak to come every night for a story and crumpets.

The young boy smiled as he walked into the hut in question. The man had the crumpets prepared as well as the warm yackow milk the two liked to share at this time. "Well, what'll it be this time Jak?" The man had asked.

The boy shrugged not knowing what story the man would tell him.

The man smiled under his cartoonishly large mustache. "How about I tell you about the time I climbed the snowy mountain to fight off the great Snow Lurker?"

Jak nodded in excitement.

"Very well." The man smirked. "Now, this was back when I was fifteen years old. It was one of my very first adventures and the Red Sage at the time had heard of me."

Jak nodded as he dipped what the man called a crumpet into his warm yackow milk. "Now since the man had heard of my many exploits he decided to call me over as he needed someone to fight off the giant Snow Lurker terrorizing the village." The man explained. "Now, at the time the lift system for the mountain had not been made so I had to climb it using my bare hands!"

Jak gasped wondering how the man was able to climb a mountain with little equipment. "Now, I had climbed the mountain for what felt like weeks until I finally made it to the beasts lair."

Jak couldn't help but get even more excited. "I gave the Lurker a swift punch but of course that wasn't enough." The man explained. "The Lurker had me in its grasps and I thought it was all over until…"

The man held off the ending knowing it would excite the young boy even more. "Pure yellow eco began to drip from the roof of the cave onto me and trying to think of a way out of the monsters grip and to my great surprise (and pleasure) I shot the pure yellow energy at the ol' beast!"

Jak was amazed, although the man had told him of his ability to channel eco each time amazed him. "That was the first time I had channeled eco and let me tell you it was quite incredible!"

Jak nodded. "Now let me tell you of the time I caught a muse!" The man exclaimed. He looked and saw that Jak had nodded off. "Well looks like it's quite later than I had anticipated?"

Jak had dreams of channeling eco; using green eco to heal people much like Samos had; using red eco to become much stronger and fight off hordes of monsters as well as lift and pull heavy objects; using yellow eco to blast many monsters out of his path; and blue eco which he used to run at incredible speeds. Jak thought this was truly amazing.

He smiled and gave the young boy a blanket stylized in the same way his shirt was. He really enjoyed Jak's presence and honestly didn't mind him sleeping in his hut. Now the man knew that Jak didn't have family as it was quite obvious that Samos was not his father, not to mention he could feel that the boy was destined for great things despite the fact Samos had only told the other Sages of Jak's true destiny.

This gave the man a sort of paternal nature towards the child and because of this he wanted to spend more time with the child. He knew just what he'd do about this.

* * *

Jak still slept in the same chair as the night before while Samos and the adventurer sat together sipping on herbal tea (The herbs had been gathered by The Fisherman accompanied by the Bird Lady in the Forbidden Jungle). Samos was relieved to find Jak here. He was quite worried what would happen to both him and history if something had happened to the young boy.

"Now Samos," The man started. "I have found the young lad has gained a bit of an attachment to me."

Samos nodded. "Yes, I am well aware of that." And it was true Jak would spend hours at the man's hut whether Daxter and or Kiera wanted to come or not.

"And I am well aware that the boy does not have any sort of family." The man continued. That hurt Samos a bit as he thought of himself, Kiera and even Daxter as Jak's family, however the man was right Jak did not have any family and being the heir to Haven the former ruler, Damas had dissappeared years ago.

"You're very right." Samos agreed. "But what does that have to do with you?"

"I think it would be in our best interest that the boy were to move in with me." The man confirmed.

"Unacceptable!" Samos shout-whispered. "The boy needs to remain with me." The truth of the matter was that Samos agreed with the man, but what he was worried about was if this would change the delicate balance of time and keep Jak away from his destiny of destroying the metal head leader.

"But Samos," The man pestered. "Surely you should think of the child as it would surely give the child a safe home where he could live and grow."

"What is unsafe about my home?" Samos had asked irritably.

"Nothing at all," The man insisted. "But it's only a matter of time before Jak and Kiera cannot share the same room. You know that Samos."

He had Samos there, he couldn't really argue at this point. "What are you suggesting?"

"Jak should stay with me." He started. "It's important for him to have some form of family so I wish to become his adoptive uncle."

"I'm not very sure…" Samos sighed.

"But the lad doesn't have any family." The man pestered. "Think about it Samos. The boy needs this! Besides it's not like you won't be able to see the child."

"Alright…" Samos reluctantly agreed. "But you must have the boy see me each day for at least an hour."

"Understood." The man agreed.

But Samos wasn't done he thought about how close Jak was to both Kiera and sadly Daxter in the future. "Not only that but Jak must keep his friendships with both Daxter and Kiera." It was obvious to him that Kiera and him had romantic tension in Haven and realized it was important for that to grow. Not only that but Daxter was important to Jak as well, no matter how much Daxter annoyed him now or when he first met the animal that he became he realized that Daxter was always there with Jak and that he enjoyed his company.

"Very well." The man agreed. "It's been a pleasure doing business with you mate."

* * *

A nine year old Jak was in his Uncle's hut looking at himself in the makeshift mirror with Daxter sitting on the bed behind him. He looked at his blonde hair that had been growing upwards. But what began to worry him was that there was a slight green tint developing at the roots.

"Well that's a little funky." Daxter said looking at the boy's hair. He got off the bed and stood next to his friend. "It's kinda weird. But whoever said you were normal Jak?"

This made the boy smile at his redheaded friend.

"Besides," Daxter continued. "It looks really good on you."

Jak smiled at Daxter who smirked. "Besides the Sage said that when you would start to channel the colorful eco stuff that you would experience some sort of physical change, looks like it's the green tint in your hair."

Jak nodded in understanding. Though eco had given him a slight mutation his friend was able to look past that and actually made him feel good about it.

"Let's go Jak!" Daxter called from the door. "I'm hungry and your Uncle's making cookies."

Although it annoyed his Uncle that Daxter called his crumpets cookies it amused Jak. Daxter knew when to help when needed. Jak smiled at this and followed his friend out the door.

* * *

"This stinks!" Daxter shouted as he rose out of the yackow manure he had just tripped and fell into. Kiera laughed while Jak covered his mouth to keep from laughing while slight chuckles still spilled out.

The three ten year olds were trying to herd yackows into the famer's pen while the farmer 'watched' them.

"Why are we even doing this anyways?" Daxter complained. "These stupid old yackows aren't moving a muscle!"

Kiera nodded. "Daxter's right," The girl agreed. Normally she ignored Daxter's constant complaining but for once it had a ring of truth to it. "These yackows won't move no matter what we do."

Jak sighed, his friends were right even when he was strongest of the three he still wasn't able to move even the smallest of the yackows.

"Let's just leave!" Daxter insisted.

"We can't do that." Kiera said disapprovingly.

"Why not!?" he asked. "The farmer won't notice at all!"

Jak began to tune out the two as he examined one of the yackow. He got a good look at its brown fur, its big hulking figure and its black horns that shone in the Sandover sun. He noticed its tail hanging and swinging back and forth as it chewed at the grass. He knew he was quite strong for his age not to mention the rippling muscles he had been developing. He clenched his fist and gave the yackow a swift punch right beside its tail.

The yackow gave out a yelp as it moved away from where Jak hit it. This caused the two arguing children to stop their argument abruptly and look at the boy in question.

"Jak!" Kiera shouted. "You can't do that!"

Daxter laughed. "That's it put your back into it!"

Kiera stormed off as the boy wouldn't listen to her and Daxter encouraged the behavior.

The two finished their job and left. When the farmer woke up he didn't even remember who got the yackows in their pen.

* * *

Today was a special day for Jak, as it was his eleventh birthday. He felt that he should be remembering something important about this day but he wasn't quite sure. He brushed off the feeling and went about getting ready.

He got his towel and a bar of soap and went down to Sentinel Beach to take a bath. What Jak didn't know is that Daxter had replaced Jak's usual bar of soap with a bar of soap laced with honey courtesy of Kiera when Daxter told her he liked the smell of honey. Daxter had expertly set up many wump bee nests around the area the party would take place all Daxter would need to do was lead him to the party because Samos wanted him away from preparations in fear Daxter would ruin everything.

After taking his bath the boy walked with his towel wrapped around the lower half of his body and away from the beach and back to the hut he and his uncle shared.

The boy got changed into his blue shirt and white shorts (currently devoid of the silver metallic ring, the metallic shoulder armor, and his goggles) and walked out the door of his hut.

"Hey birthday boy!" An irritably familiar voice called out to him. He turned to see Daxter leaning on the pane of the hut's entrance. "So, what's on the agenda today?"

Jak shrugged but looked at Daxter suspiciously. Daxter always pulled a prank on his birthday since his seventh birthday. He knew something was up.

"Why ya' looking at me like that Jak?" Daxter asked the glaring eleven year old.

He continued looking at him and Daxter got the message. "I can't believe you'd think that I'd prank you!" Daxter shouted. "I'm ten now, about to be eleven in a month don't you think I'd be more mature now?"

Jak shook his head from side to side in response. "Killjoy!" The red head shouted he then threw away what appeared to be a hammer.

"Well come on Jak let's head down to Samos's hut and check what Kiera is up to." Daxter said as he began to walk off to the old man's hut.

Jak sighed in relief as it seemed Daxter threw away whatever prank he had in mind and followed after the boy.

Arriving at the lower level of the hut they saw it was filled with blueprints of things Kiera wanted to build, she had gotten into technology after the Blue and Red Sages visited Samos a couple of months ago. She was fascinated by the Blue Sages helmet as well as his staff as well as the Red Sages large mechanical suit with a mixture of lava and red eco running through its tubes. This intrigued the young girl and when given time she had asked both Sages about these things and though the Red Sage wasn't filled with a lot of answers the Blue Sage was happy to give her all the answers she needed and what was amazing was she was able to follow along with the man's rambling. This caused her to try and create many inventions and as of now hadn't come up with much.

"Kiera!" Daxter called out for his friend. "KIERA!"

Jak was confused. Kiera was always down here writing down blueprints or working on some 'special' project as of recent.

"Well looks like she's not here." Daxter sighed. "I know how about we go mess with old green stuff!"

Jak shrugged and followed the boy. But he couldn't help but wonder where everyone was. Come to think of it, Jak hadn't seen anyone, not the bird lady, not the sculptor, not even the mayor as he was usually busy with some sort of official paperwork in his hut to carry on to Samos.

They had reached the upper level of the hut and the dark eco plant lunged at them but of course its stem wasn't long enough to reach them.

Daxter didn't even make a crack at the thing as he walked past it to find the Sage's home completely empty. Now Jak was concerned seeing Samos gone was a little much. Normally he would be there messing with green eco.

Daxter looked around as well. "Oh well Samos isn't here. Maybe we should go to the Farmer's house!"

Jak once again followed his best friend over to the farmers house.

Upon arrival they found nothing. Jak was getting worried now.

"SURPRISE!" Voices shouted and out from behind the farmers house came many of the village's residents. Jak sighed in relief at this as Samos and his uncle were the first to go up to the boy.

"Happy birthday Jak!" Samos said excitedly.

"Well done ma' boy!" His uncle smirked. "Eleven years is quite the occasion to celebrate!"

Jak smiled at this, he couldn't help but enjoy what his friends have done for him. Samos and the middle aged man walked away to get the large platter of cookies and five pitchers of lemonade that were set out.

Kiera and Daxter then came over to the boy. "Happy birthday buddy!" Daxter shouted.

"Happy birthday Jak!" Kiera hugged the boy. He smiled at this.

The party then continued with many congratulations as well as the many cookies and many glasses of lemonade. But throughout the party Jak couldn't help but notice that many wump bees were following him, though he hadn't been stung yet, the night was still young. Daxter noticed that none of the bees had stung him yet so he decided to up the ante and left for some time. This slightly bothered Jak as he noticed the redheads absence.

"Hey buddy!" Jak had heard. He then turned to see his friend who was appearing at the oddest times and places today. Jak then noticed the small red bump on the boy's cheek. Daxter mentally cursed himself for not covering up the small sting a wump bee had given him.

Before anything could be said to Jak he received a small tap on the shoulder. He turned to see Kiera holding a small wooden box. "I got you a present." Kiera smiled.

Jak smiled at this and took the top of the box off. There sitting at the bottom of the box was a leather strap with a large eye piece which is rather large and red and has two crosshairs on it, and the other eyepiece is completely metal spiraling into itself suggesting that it opens up.

Jak looked at it a bit confused. "Here, let me help you with that." Kiera said. She did so, putting the goggles on the boy's forehead. Once finished she took a look at them and smiled at Jak in his new goggles.

Jak smirked at this and then slid the goggles down to cover his large blue eyes. The smaller eyepiece immediately retracted its spiraling metal and Jak could see everything closer than before as it was magnified at a perfectly clear resolution. He slid them off and smiled.

"Wow, those look snazzy." Daxter commented. He turned to Kiera. "When do I get one of those?"

Kiera laughed. "Maybe for your birthday Daxter."

Jak truly loved the goggles and didn't take them off at all and when the sun started to set that's when the party ended.

He walked back to his uncle's hut and to his room. He lie on the bed before he saw a Wump bee nest perched on the ceiling.

His eyes widened when he realized he had the strong smell of honey resonating off of him.

"Happy birthday Jak." Daxter called from the window before the wumpbees began to fly out of the nest as well as the many wump bees that had been following him throughout the day.

* * *

Twelve year olds: Jak, Daxter and Kiera were perched up in a tree within the Forbidden Jungle, with the bird lady. The bird lady had her binoculars on whereas Jak, Kiera and Daxter had their individual goggles over their faces.

Kiera and the bird lady were busy looking for rare birds whereas Jak and Daxter had given that up long ago and were quite bored. Jak still managed to at least try and look for Odd things in the forest.

"This is so… boring!" Daxter whined.

Jak nudged him in the shoulder whereas Kiera and the bird lady continued to look for birds.

"Hey quit it Jak!" The red head said. Jak hit him again and put a finger over his own mouth so that the boy would be silent.

"But we've been out here in this stinking heat for two hours!" Daxter complained. "We haven't even seen one single bird!"

Jak gave Daxter an even bigger punch in the arm which caused the boy to fall out of the large tree.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Daxter screamed as he fell out of tree and hit the ground with a thud.

Many birds flew out of the jungle making Kiera and the bird lady 'oooohhh' and 'aaaahhh.'

Jak slid down the tree and meet Daxter at the bottom.

"Ow…" Daxter moaned. "Never! EVER! Do that a-"

Two metal objects fell from the tree and hit the boy in the head. "-gain…" The boy fainted.

Jak, Kiera and the bird lady then went back to the village with Daxter being carried by Jak and Kiera carried the metal objects that fell on Daxter's head in hopes of using it for some sort of machinery.

They brought the bird lady back to her hut and Jak and Kiera, the former of the two still carrying their unconscious friend, went back to Samos's hut.

They entered the old man's hut to see him meditating with a mystical green aura surrounding him. Jak set the boy down on the floor as they entered the hut. Samos opened his eyes when he saw the two children.

"Hello Jak and Kiera!" The Sage chirped and then looked at the floor to see the bothersome red head. "Daxter."

"Hi daddy!" Kiera smiled.

Jak waved at the man.

"How was bird watching?" Samos asked.

"It was good and Daxter even helped us spot a bunch of the birds." Kiera stated.

"Wow, that's quite fantastic!" Samos said. He then saw the two metal pieces in Kiera's hands. "What do you have there, Kiera?"

"Oh," Kiera said looking down at them. "This is just some pieces of metal that fell from a tree and knocked out Daxter. I was hoping to use it in one of my inventions!"

"Kiera you shouldn't use those!" He commanded.

"But why not?" She asked.

He flew over and took the two metal pieces from the girl. He holds the two up and it's confirmed that one is a metal ring whereas the other was a single metallic shoulder pad. "No Kiera. You shouldn't use these great artifacts."

"Artifacts?" Kiera asked and Jak looked at the man confused.

"Yes," Samos confirmed. "These were worn by a great hero! He saved an entire world and another _village_ on different occasions." He was careful on the word village although he wanted to say Haven City.

"Wow…" Kiera gasped in awe. While Jak was amazed as well. "He sounds amazing!"

Samos smiled at this. "Yes, he hid these peices so that another hero would find it in hopes of another great hero would find it and use it one day."

"Then it's a good thing I found it!" A voice yelled. The three turned to see Daxter out of his daze.

"What in green tarnation are you talking about?!" The man shouted.

"Well I was the one who discovered these so that means I'm the great hero!" Daxter bragged.

"You?!" Samos laughed. "A hero? Don't make me laugh Daxter!"

"Gimme that!" He said lunging for the man who simply floated higher than the boys reach.

"You are not getting these artifacts Daxter!" Samos yelled. He then looked at Jak. "Seeing as Jak has been the most well behaved today I'm giving it to him."

"No fair!" Daxter grumbled with his arms crossed.

Jak looked at the two metal pieces in awe. If this belonged to a great hero then Jak would do this man proud by following in his footsteps and becoming a hero as well.

* * *

"Wow… what is that?" A thirteen year old Daxter asked as Samos was using a power cell to power his eco converter.

"This is a power cell." Samos explained. "We use it as a secondary power source to Blue Eco."

"But how do we get a power cell daddy?" Kiera asked.

"Well some of them can be found out throughout the land, whereas others can be traded away from people, everyone has a power cell or two."

"Ya," Daxter said. "Well one day we're gonna collect all the power cells!"

* * *

Jak smiled at this and nodded in agreement.

Samos smiled as well and thought maybe Daxter is useful for something.

"Alright, now you guys know what you're doing?"A fourteen year old Kiera asked Jak and Daxter as they sat on what looked to be a completed A-Grav Zoomer.

"Relax…" Daxter replied from behind Jak who was at the controls. "We just take a little test cruise on the Zoomer and then give it back."

"Why does that not make me feel any better?" She asked the two.

"Whatever..." Daxter ignored her. "REV IT UP JAK!"

Jak followed suit and reved up the vehicle.

"REMEMBER THIS ONLY A TEST!" Kiera called out. "SO YOU NEED TO GO-" The two drove off at very high speeds. "Easy on the controls…"

Jak and Daxter rode through the village causing lots of mischief and destruction in their wake. They up rooted the bird ladies flowers, made a hole in the fishermans boat (Daxter made a mental note to tell the fisherman that a Lurker Shark took a bite out of it), and not to mention broke through one of the sculptors newest pieces.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH! I WANT OFF THIS THING!" Daxter shouted.

The two were heading straight for a pile of yackow manure. "HIT THE DECK!" Daxter yelled.

Jak and Daxter both jumped off the zoomer and into the sand. The zoomer headed straight for the manure.

Kiera ran over to the two. "Are you guys okay?!"

"I think the zoomer needs a little work." Daxter said and Jak nodded in agreement.

* * *

**(A/N I don't remember this part too well so bare with me)**

"Well today's the day." Samos confirmed. "I hope you're ready for whatever happens."

Jak stood proud and tall on the ramp to the rift gate. The four of them sat in the rift rider. "I've seen such things do great evil." Samos replied.

"Or great good if you know how to use them." Kiera replied optimistically. "I hope we didn't break anything, moving it here."

"That's easy for you to say!" The small ottsle shouted. "We did all the heavy lifting."

Jak agreed it was true after all HE did most of the work moving the stuff.

Daxter was about to press the large red gem that was on the panel of the rift rider before Samos yelled. "DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING!"

Daxter grumbled as he took his paw away from the glowing ruby. Samos then turned to Jak. "I'm sure you can make it work."

Jak simply pressed his hand on the gem and immediately a capsule in the likeness of a precursor orb opened up with a small light that had a ring spinning in place around it with small metalic balls orbited around it. "Looks like Jak's still got the mojo!" Daxter smiled.

The spokes around the rift rider began to turn and purple lightning shot at different sections of the rift gate. Then the purple energy began to swirl within the gate.

"FINALLY THE RIFT HAS BEEN OPENED!" A dark voice called out.

A large beast that had grey lizard like skin as well as six piercing yellow eyes that glared out at no one in particular, not to mention its large claws and four arms that emerged from the rift gate. Many similar yet smaller creatures flew around destroying Sandover. Kiera shrieked in fear while Daxter began panicking and pressing random buttons on the console.

Jak's attention was on Samos though as he stared at the creature in awe. "So this is how it happened." The old man said calmly.

"Press all the buttons!" Daxter yelled still on the verge of hyperventilation while randomly pressing buttons. Jak stared down at the large gem that had activated this in the first place. Well if it started up the machine it should do something.

He punched the button and the rift rider lunged forward. They got closer to the beast and hit it smack in the face lightly pushing it back but were brought into the gate.

They appeared in a blue vortex. "What was that thing?" Kiera asked.

"Hang on everyone!" Samos shouted avoiding the question.

Jak looked at Daxter who was screaming. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I WANT OFF THIS THING!"

Suddenly the rift rider broke apart and Jak and Daxter were separated from Samos and Kiera. Jak and Daxter then reached for the approaching light. The last thing they heard was Samos shout. "FIND YOURSELF JAK!"

* * *

Sitting alone. Battered and beaten. In this dark cell devoid of any sunlight. Sixteen year old Jak sighed as he had been in the Dark Warrior Program for over a year. He'd lost track of how long it had been in this hell hole but he knew for sure that things couldn't get any worse.

He missed the silver ring and shoulder guard that made him feel powerful. He missed the warm sun, the sands and the cool blue waters of the beach. He missed the fun times with Daxter and Kiera. He missed the sounds and smells of Sandover. He missed-

**'Why do you think of these things?'** The Dark Creature inside of him asked.

'Please can you leave me alone?' Jak mentally asked the dark one.

**'Such thoughts of a bright lush world are sickening.'** It continued. **'I wish to see this land filled with blood and carnage. Let the blood and dark eco spill throughout the land'**

'STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT!' Jak screamed to himself, thereby suppressing his dark form.

He missed the sunlight and the mental stability. He missed having someone to talk to other than the monster inside his head. He missed home.

* * *

They had continued to pump more dark eco into him this dose more concentrated than any of the others before. He knew his very strong ability to channel eco is what kept him alive, but that didn't mean the chaotic energy didn't make him feel like his body was being torn apart.

He didn't hear much of who he learned to be Errol and Baron Praxis had said. But he did feel great anger as the baron grabbed his face and said to him. "You should at least be dead with all the eco we pumped into you!"

He then fell asleep for what felt like ages. Each time he went through these treatments he saw a bright light, this time the light was as brighter than he had thought possible and he reached for it. But just before he touched the light he felt something that made him open his eyes.

There he saw an orange creature sitting on his chest. He almost thought it was Daxter but he didn't care, he just went back to the light. But the light was now dimming and moving away from him and the irritably familiar voice kept continuing to get clearer and clearer.

"Say something!" The creature yelled. "Just this once!"

He definitely had something to say. Something that had been on the dark one's mind for these two long years and over time slowly became shared by Jak as well. Never in his life had he spoken before but now that was about to change. "I'M GONNA KILL PRAXIS!"

Immediately his form change as he became slightly more muscular and his skin turned an eerie grey as well as his hair turning silver and large claws growing at his fingernails not to mention the sparking purple energy.

This scared the creature in front of him as it began to cower in fear at it. He ignored whatever words it had to say as he busted out of the accursed bounds that had kept him down for so long. He looked down at the animal that was cowering in fear with malicious intent. He gave an evil smile and brought his claws down.

"It's your old pal Daxter! Remember!" The ottsle in question shouted. His approaching claws stop short.

Immediately memories of the red haired boy growing up with him as well as when the boy turned into an ottsle, as well as saving the world with the ottsle. He remembered the last time he had seen the ottsle and how much hope he had in him then. He did it! He actually saved him! Daxter!

**'What are you doing?!'** The voice shouts, quite irritated that the small animals blood hasn't spilled yet. **'Destroy this worthless life form!'**

He took another look at the Ottsle's face. "Daxter?" He asked as he stumbled back, the effects of the sudden mutation receded and he returned to his normal self.

"Woah!" Daxter shouted. "What they do to you?"

Jak just shook his head from side to side with wide eyes. He wasn't quite sure what happened and honestly it scared him more than the voice that had haunted him for more than a year.

Daxter just walked off. "Come on tall dark and gruesome!"

Jak followed the ottsle. "Oh and I got you some new threads."

Daxter then gave the young man the clothes he had gotten for him. At least Daxter got it in his favorite color. He quickly got changed and was ready to go. "Come on Dax!" He said.

"Wait!" He shouted. Jak looked down at his friend wondering what else he could possibly want.

"It's not complete without these." He said as he held out the silver ring and shoulder armor he so prided.

"Daxter?" Jak asked surprised. "How did you?"

"It's all I could find." Daxter replied. "I don't know where the rest is."

Jak smiled at the ottsle. "Thank you."

He put the ring and the shoulder guard in place and smirked. With Daxter here and the two accessories that made Jak feel like himself again he had been given back a few pieces of Sandover.

"Come on Dax!" He shouted as he let his hand down for the ottsle to climb up it. With the ottsle perched on his shoulder he could almost feel the sun high in the sky looming down on him as he ran through the village doing some task for one of the villagers he had grown to know and love in hopes of getting a power cell.

* * *

Jak and Daxter now were in search of 'the shadow.' Jak was used to walking long distances but he'd rather have some quicker transportation. He then saw a small metallic vehicle hovering in the air. Jak immediately recognized this as a zoomer.

"Is that?" Jak asked, quite surprised.

"Ya," Daxter confirmed. "It's a zoomer. These are a lot smoother than the A-grav and their everywhere here."

"Ya I've noticed." Jak replied as he looked at the many zoomers flying up above their heads.

"How are they able to fly that high?" Jak asked.

"I dunno." Daxter replied. "All I know is that Kiera would flip if she saw these."

Jak laughed. "Ya she would."

He quickly changed the subject. "So where do we get one of those?" He asked him.

"I dunno." Daxter simply replied.

**'You fool!'** The dark voice had shouted at him. **'Just take the damn thing!'**

Jak smirked at this for once actually heeding the voices advice.

He ran for the zoomer and hopped on it. He started it and drove off.

Riding a zoomer again brought him memories of the fire canyon, precursor basin, mountain pass and lava tube. The immediate danger of each situation, the adrenaline, the glory of using something that was designed by one of your best friends was just incredible. He smirked at this as it made him feel alive and hearing Daxter's whoops and cheers added to the joy.

* * *

"That voice I'd recognize it anywhere!" The woman called from behind the curtain. She then pulled the curtain open. Jak and Daxter were shocked to see the face that was unveiled.

There standing in her white sports bra as well as her purple pants that hugged her figure and the goggles around her neck. Jak and Daxter looked into the same green eyes and turquoise hair they had looked at for as long as they could remember. "Jak! Daxter!"

"Kiera?!" Daxter leapt in surprise.

"I've been looking for you two everywhere!" She said. "I've been trying to find us a way home!" She said.

She walked over to Jak. "Jak-" She then looked taken aback as his dark form flashed in his eyes daring her to come forward. This of course got unnoticed by Jak. "You've changed."

"It's been a tough ride." He responded.

Getting Kiera back on his side would be a long process but in the end he would have his childhood friend back and maybe in time they could be much more.

* * *

Jak and Daxter began walking towards the clearing in the Dead Town. There they saw something completely unbelievable.

Daxter was flabbergasted. "Is that?" He was babbling. "No it couldn't be… But it is."

The both of them looked in shock at what was a ruined and grey Samos's hut.

"Daxter…" Jak was at a loss for words. "This… This horrible place… Is our world?!"

The two were at a loss for words at this. How could this have happened to the safe place that the two grew up in come to this?

"The metal head leader!" Daxter growled.

"What are you talking about Dax?" Jak asked.

"When he came through the rift gate and destroyed the place!" Daxter continued.

Daxter was right. Jak growled and Daxter could feel the dark energy radiating off of Jak he wanted revenge for what that malevolent creature did to his home and made sure he suffered.

"He will pay for this!" Jak shouted and Daxter agreed. The two smirked at each other and fist bumped.

* * *

Jak and Daxter were walking into the underground's base. They saw a man with his back facing the two. "So you're the two boys running around making noise for the Baron?" The man asked.

He turned there they saw a man who wore spectacles and had small white mustache that connected to a short beard. He wore a brown vest and shorts. He also had a rock on his head with a log through the middle of it.

"You?" Daxter asked. "The one whose…" Jak pretty much ignored all the insults Daxter threw at the man.

Daxter finished and Jak just asked. "You don't know us?"

"Sorry," The man replied. "I've never seen ya' before and I never forget a face." He then glared at Daxter as he finished. "Especially one that ugly!"

"And so it begins…" Daxter deadpanned.

Jak sighed. He couldn't believe that he'd found Samos and now he was gone because he didn't even know who he or Daxter was. With Kiera being on and off with him it's quite obvious that home felt even farther away.

* * *

"What took you two so long?!" The old man shouted at them as the cell door slid open to reveal both the young and old Samos.

"Two Samos'?" Daxter asked. "AAAAAAAAHHHHHH! Jak they're multiplying!"

"Yes it appears I have a chronological twin in time." The young Samos confirmed.

The old Samos walked towards Jak, he could immediately feel the dark energy radiating off of him. It frightened him as he hadn't been able to feel that energy back when this had first happened to him. "Great yackow bones!" The man gasped. "Jak what happened to you?"

"Now that the Baron has the stone it's important that we get it from him before he's able to harness his power."

"If you were even half as wise as I was you would know that the next course of action would be to find the kid!" The old Samos argued.

"Listen. I know you haven't been in the game for a while but it's important that we get the stone!"

"Oh… Look who thinks they've sprouted-"

"Listen." Jak said. "You two can talk about this later, right now Vin's got the teleport gate open and we need to go!"

The two Samos' nod and they, Jak, Daxter and Tess jumped into the teleport gate.

It was great to have Samos back, for real this time.

* * *

"DIE!" Metal Kor shouted at Jak as he shot a beam of dark energy at the platform he and Daxter were standing on. The platform crumbled and Jak fell as the rubble landed on top of him. The creature smirked.

**"THWA!"** An animalistic scream was let out and Metal Kor turned to see Dark Jak snarling at him. " **YOU FIRST!"**

This was personal for Jak as he was getting revenge on Metal Kor for what he did to Sandover. His dark form enjoyed Jak's personal anger he actually let Jak have a crack at the beast first.

Jak shot at the creature with his Vulcan Furry. Metal Kor roared as the bullets infused with blue eco pierced his skin at very high speeds making them sting. He managed to fire off a blast of dark energy at Jak who easily rolled out of the way. He began firing more of the blue eco mods bullets but began to run out.

Metal Kor, now fed up with being bound to his webbing swung and landed on the ground crawling after Jak. Jak took this as an opportunity and brought out the peacemaker and fired several of the dark eco infused balls of electricity at the beast. The beast lunged at him swinging his claws down but Jak jumped over them he took the chance to shoot a blast of the Scatter gun in the Metal Head Leaders face.

Metal Kor then blindly made a slash for Jak. Jak was not ready for the slash as he just landed on the ground. Metal Kor smirked at this and grabbed the wounded warrior. Jak struggled in his grasp. Jak then smirked at the creature. "Alright you've got me." Jak said.

**"Yes,"** The creature smirked as he tightened his grasp on the young man. **"The end is near."**

Jak's form immediately became bulkier and he looked into the dark soulless black eyes of Dark Jak **"Now, it's my turn!"**

The dark eco infused warrior began to crackle with purple electricity that burnt Metal Kor's hand. Metal Kor let go of Dark Jak who fell to the floor and immediately got to work on the horrid monster.

Dark Jak jumped and tackled the monster as began to slash at its stomach with blind furry. Metal Kor couldn't take much more of this and Jak knew that. The monster shot a beam of dark energy at Jak knocking him against the wall. Metal Kor stood up but a large pool of dark blood fell from his stomach, he knew he wasn't going to make it.

Jak then ran over to him and pulled his face down by its beard like tentacles and growled. **"THIS IS FOR SANDOVER!"** His arm became charged with dark energy. He then forced his hand to Metal Kor's face causing the dark energy spread out in a circle from the point of impact.

Metal Kor then went limp and his head was detached from his body which instantly dissipated into dark energy. The head of the beast then fell down to the ground and dark Jak smirked at it with his arms crossed. Satisfied Dark Jak allowed Jak to come back as the warrior reverted to his normal state.

It was great that Jak avenged Sandover Village yet it still wasn't enough to give Jak closure.

* * *

"Alright the rift rider is set so that it'll take us back to when we left." Kiera explained. "Let's go home everyone."

"But don't you get it?" Jak asked. "We are home!"

"I'm afraid he's right Kiera." The older Samos agreed. "This machine should be used to take the boy back so he can grow up to face this today."

"Wait." The young Samos said. "I'm supposed to go back to raise the kid right?"

The older Samos nodded. "Aw… man talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time."

He then got into the machine and Jak picked up the kid and put it into the capsule. Giving the same speech as before, he couldn't help but feel slightly jealous of the boy.

The rift rider then flew off and Samos called out to them. "And don't worry we'll be back in time for the celebration!"

Jak smiled at that. "It's funny." Samos smiled. "The boy won't remember any of this."

Jak agreed with this. He knew the boy would grow up and enjoy his childhood and he knew that the boy would become a hero.

* * *

"The next race is going to take place in the Forbidden Jungle." Samos told the two.

Jak choked on his drink at that. "The Forbidden Jungle?!" Daxter asked.

"Yes," Rayne confirmed. "Is there a problem?"

"No." Kiera quickly cut her off. "Not at all."

"Very well now we'll go and race." Rayne replied.

Jak sighed. The Forbidden Jungle? He didn't even know that place was still around. Jak had many memories in the place and wasn't sure if he'd be able to handle it.

* * *

Jak swerved the Roadblade into first place past the finish line. He was able to race just fine, in fact the memories of this place fueled the determination to win as Jak realized that this was his turf and he deserved to win.

The jungle of course was overgrown but Jak was able to recognize many parts of the jungle.

Really the race made him feel more at home here in the future.

* * *

**(A/N Daxter has the morph gun from Jak 2 and Jak has the one from Jak 3)**

Metal heads flew throughout the land as many were trying to get away from the attacking creatures.

The Fisherman was smashing Metal Heads with his bare hands whereas the bird lady and sculptor were cowering in fear of the Metal Heads. The rift gate began to fall but before it did a lone figure with what appeared to be a cross between an otter and a weasel jumped out of the portal.

Jak and Daxter who were now twenty seven were here to defend their home. Jak had short hair similar to that of the style he wore during the Kras city eco cup that complimented his large ocean blue eyes. He wore a blue jacket that had the first two buttons left undone that slightly revealed the white shirt that he wore underneath and beige pants. He still wore the silver ring and of course the metal shoulder armor he so prided. On his shoulder was Daxter in his usual jean shorts.

"Let's move Dax!" Jak shouted.

"Eat Peacemaker Metal Heads!" Daxter shouted as he began to fire the balls dark electricity at the multiple Metalheads.

Jak ran sticking to the beam-reflector setting on his morph gun blasting away Metal Heads in his wake.

"Somebody help!" A familiar voice shouted.

"I'm on it!" Daxter shouted jumping off the man's shoulder and running to help the woman cowering in fear. Daxter quickly switched to the blaster mod and quickly shot the metal head threatening the woman.

"Thank you, thank you!" The Bird Lady shouted relieved that she was saved from the creature. "Daxter?" She asked surprised to see the ottsle save her.

"The one and only!" The ottsle smirked. "You better go hide in the Forbidden Jungle's temple, near the bird watching tree!"

The woman nodded and quickly ran off to where the ottsle told her.

"HAHA!" The Fisherman shouted as another Metal Head was smashed under his large fists. "Take that ya bug!"

Suddenly a big thud was heard behind him. He turned to see a large metal head roar in his face.

He chuckled at this, looking very nervous.

BOOM!

The creature fell down to the ground in front of the Fisherman. He looked up to see a creature in the same outfit Jak wore with the same hairstyle only in a silver color as well as large claws and pale white skin. The most dawning thing of it was the piercing black eyes.

The fisherman was taken aback that such a creature would've saved his life. He was quite disturbed by the creature and reared back. But to his surprise the creature gave him a warm smile (as warm a smile Dark Jak can give anyways) and waved before jumping away with a cloud of dark eco in his wake. What disturbed him was that the smile seemed familiar. It reminded him of the large basket of fish that was caught by… Jak? Could that be him?

No matter there were more people he needed to save from these dark creatures.

Daxter's mother screamed in fear as a Metal Head rummaged through her sons room destroying what she had left of her young son who disappeared. This of course gained the attention of the Metal Head and it charged towards the woman. It was then blasted back by a ball of dark electricity. It twitched on the ground before dissipating into dark energy. She gasped at this and turned around to be surprised by the ottsle in question.

"Daxter!" The woman shouted scooping up her son in her arms.

"Mom!" He shouted as he hugged the woman back. "Your safe now but I need to go."

"But what about you?" She asked.

"I'll be fine for now go to the temple in the Forbidden Jungle!" He commanded.

"Of course." The woman confirmed. She then ran off.

Daxter turned to his destroyed room and sighed. He quickly ran off in search of Jak.

Jak's adoptive uncle was rummaging through his many chests in hopes of finding what he was looking for. A metal head was sneaking up on him drooling in anticipation of its meal. The man then turned and stabbed the Metal Head with a knife.

"Looks like this old chaps still got it." He smirked. But that thought was quickly dismissed as he pulled out the knife only to find the blade was still sunken into the monster.

He feared the worse as another Metal Head came into the room. It lunged at him and he closed his eyes in fear.

Jak had just run into the home to see the metal head in the air. He quickly turned into his light form and shot a blast of Light Eco at the creature.

Jak then turned back to his normal form and ran for his Uncle. The man immediately knew the face when he saw him. "Jak?" He asked surprised.

"It's great to see you again Uncle." Jak smiled.

The man smirked. "Look at you! You're all grown up!" He laughed. "And it's great to finally hear that voice of yours!"

Jak smiled at this but quickly returned to the situation at hand. "Listen uncle. We can't stay here! You need to head into the temple while Dax and I defend the village."

"No!" The man replied. "I'm staying here and fighting alongside my nephew for my home!"

"It's not safe here!" Jak insisted.

"Well I'm not letting you fight these monstrosities alone!" He pestered.

Jak sighed. He knew he wasn't going to win this battle. "Here!" He said throwing what appeared to be a long stick with a large cylinder at the end. This was Kiera's prototype weapon that she dubbed the Gun staff.

"Can an old crocadog learn new tricks?" Jak asked quoting him.

"Well of course my dear boy!" He confirmed.

"Let's go!"

* * *

Everyone in Sandover was now gathered in what remained of the center of the village.

Daxter was now leaning on Jak's shoulder as the villagers were now scared and confused at what just happened.

"Alright everyone remain calm." Jak explained. "We all know it's been a pretty traumatic experience."

"Really Jak? That's an understatement." Daxter replied. "Ladies and gentlemen you'll have to forgive my friend Jak. He's still a little new to the whole conversation thing."

The sculptor looked in wonder. "That's Jak?" He asked. "He was the little quiet dude! What happened?"

"For me it's been twelve years since I last saw all of you." Jak replied. "A lot has changed."

"But how?" Daxter's mother asked.

Jak sighed. "Look we'll explain it later. The important thing is that you're all safe and we need to take the teleport gate in Samos' hut to Rock Village you guys'll be safe there!"

For now Jak only cared for their safety because together they would form the new world.

* * *

Jak, His Uncle, Daxter, and the remaining Sages stood in front of Metal Kor.

The Gun staff that the Uncle held was specifically stylized to shoot one blast of green eco at Metal Kor.

"NOW!" Daxter shouted. The three Sages and the Uncle immediately shot their different color eco blasts at the Metal Head Leader causing it to shriek in pain. But it was still standing it wasn't subdued yet and it began to fly at them.

"Jak this isn't enough!" His Uncle shouted.

"Course it is!" The Yellow Sage insisted. "We just gotta shoot this damn bug even harder!"

"We're not strong enough!" The Red Sage confirmed. "Surely all the colors of eco would force it into slumber!"

"That's it!" The Blue Sage shouted. "We need both Dark and Light Eco. Only through the complete balance of the six types of Eco will send this beast to sleep."

**'The complete balance…'** The dark form started.

_'Will put it to sleep!'_ The light form finished.

Jak understood. He quickly turned into his dark form and shot a dark strike at the beast. It recoiled in pain as the dark energy crackled on it's body. Jak took this as the chance and turned directly into his light form and fired a blast of pure light eco into the beast.

The prophecy was fulfilled and the beast was then put to rest within his nest. The world was saved and Jak had finally avenged Sandover Village.


	3. Chapter 2: It's Complicated

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look, I wrote this when I was 14.

_2._ _He always loved Kiera but things became complicated when he met Ashlin, it only got worse due to their separation during the Dark Maker Conflict._

**~Jak~**

Five year old Jak had been living in Sandover Village for a whole month and he had never met another child since arriving in the village. That fact however was about to change today. Jak had been walking through the village with Samos moving their few belongings to the Sages new hut. They entered the second story of the large hut to find it was mostly empty except for a small hammock in the corner, obviously cleaned out from when the old owner had left the place.

"Here we are Jak," Samos smiled at the boy. "Welcome to your new home!"

Jak smiled at this, it was a very nice place from what he'd seen. Jak joined Samos in moving some of the things into the hut. They continued moving things around the hut until they heard a gentle knock at the huts entrance. The two of them turned to see two people.

The first of which was a lanky woman with an attractive figure who had teal hair tied up in a bun, she had emerald green eyes and soft features; she wore a blue shirt and green pants. She was absolutely beautiful and Samos couldn't help but notice this, he couldn't help but keep a prolonged gaze on the woman who noticed this and slightly blushed. The other was a small girl who wore purple overalls where Jak's were blue, she was a much younger version of the woman behind her as she had the same emerald eyes and teal hair.

Jak was surprised to see another child standing right in front of him but here she was looking at him with the same great curiosity as she had never met another child as well.

"Hello." The woman said in a soft, calm voice. "I hear that you're the new sage around here."

"Yes I am," Samos nodded. "I was just instated yesterday."

"Well congratulations." She nods. "I am Iris and this is my daughter Kiera."

Samos nodded. So this is where she came from. He was wondering how Jak and Kiera could be the same age when there was no sign of Kiera in the future, he was quite worried he'd made a mistake.

"Hello, Iris." Samos smiled. "I am Samos, the Green Eco Sage and this is my adoptive son Jak."

"Pleasure to meet the both of you." She nodded. "I'd seen you around the village for sometime but had never formally introduced myself."

"Why don't we chat for a bit Iris, while Jak and Kiera get to know each other." Samos insisted.

Iris nodded. "Fair enough."

"Jak go play with Kiera." Samos told the young boy. He nodded and ran past the girl taking her hand and leading her away.

"Stay in the village!" The woman called out to the two children.

Jak and Kiera then stopped in the empty hut which would later be occupied by him and his Uncle.

Kiera then took the time to introduce herself. "Hi I'm Kiera."

Jak nodded but did not verbally respond.

This slightly annoyed Kiera but she pestered him. "What's your name?"

Jak only stared at her. He couldn't really answer the question so he just stared.

"Don't be rude!" The girl shouted. "Answer me!"

Jak pointed to his lips, trying to explain his inability to speak.

Kiera still didn't understand. She sighed walking out of the empty hut and began to make a trek back up to Samos's hut.

Jak followed still trying to get the girls attention but to no avail. Once arriving in Samos's hut they found the two parents talking.

Kiera then made her presence known by wailing. "I don't like him!"

This hurt Jak a bit, the first child he had meet didn't even like him.

"Kiera!" Iris shouted as she kneeled down to scoop up her daughter. "Don't say that!"

"But he doesn't even talk!" Kiera insisted. "How am I supposed to like him when he doesn't talk!"

"Calm down Kiera," Samos said trying to comfort the girl. "Yes, it's true that Jak doesn't talk but I am sure you two will be able to befriend each other!"

"NO!" Kiera shouted.

Samos and Iris looked at each other with great concern at this. Kiera didn't even like the boy and that worried the two parents. Mostly Samos, he knew that Kiera was quite an instrumental part in Jak's destiny and he knew they'd been friends for what seemed like forever. Surely things would sort themselves out right?

**~Jak~**

"We have a very important announcement for the two of you." Samos told Jak and Kiera who were sitting together, despite not being on the best of terms.

"What is it?" Kiera asked curious as to what sort of news would involve the both of them.

"Kiera," Iris started. "You know Samos and I have been getting close."

"Yeah," Kiera nodded.

Samos also continued to Jak. "Jak, you know how fond of Iris I am."

Jak nodded at this.

Samos and Iris looked down at the two five year olds. They looked towards each other and finally let the news come out. "We're getting married."

"WHAT?!" Kiera shouted. "Mommy?! What about Daddy?!"

Iris looked down with slight regret. But answered. "Samos will be your new daddy, and Jak will be your brother."

"NO!" She shouted. "NO! NO! NO! I HATE YOU MOMMY!"

She ran out of the hut with tears flowing down her face. "Kiera!" She called out. Jak sprang up and immediately ran after her.

Kiera didn't get very far as Jak was much faster than her. He grabbed her arm and she turned. "What do you want?!" She asked.

Jak tried to give her a sympathetic look despite being quite happy for the couple.

"No you wouldn't understand!" She responded. This surprised Jak as only Samos and on occasion Iris knew what he was trying to get across.

He put a hand on her shoulder.

The girl shook her shoulder, clearly not wanting the boys sympathy. "I hate you! I hate Samos! And I hate my mommy!"

Jak put on a serious face, as if asking her to explain.

"She can't just betray daddy like this!" She shouted.

Jak just wrapped his arms around the girl but she squirmed out of his grasp.

"You will never be my brother and Samos will never be my daddy!" She shouted.

Jak sighed as Samos and Iris finally caught up to the two children. Kiera had actually understood him but hated even the idea of him more than ever now, he wondered if they'd ever be close.

**~Jak~**

Samos and Iris had been married for about two months now and Kiera was distanced from the couple as well as Jak. Jak and Kiera were in the lower level of the hut where Kiera was sitting playing alone with a small stuffed bunny. Jak watched and wished for the companionship of the young girl.

He walked over to the girl and tapped her on the shoulder. The girl looked over her shoulder to see the other five year old and sighed. "Oh it's just you."

Jak sat next to her and watched her play. He gave the bunny a curious look.

Kiera noticing this answered. "My daddy gave it to me when I was little girl. Ya' know before he died."

Jak nodded knowing that as of now she addressed Samos as Samos and not as 'dad', 'father' or 'daddy. He knew very well that Kiera was quite hurt and he wanted to change that.

She then gave her a sympathetic look.

"It won't be okay Jak." She replies. "Mommy betrayed me and my daddy."

Jak then gave her a questioning look as if asking 'are you sure?'

"Yes I'm sure." She answered. "She loved my daddy and now she goes and marries someone else!"

Jak put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

Kiera shook her shoulder to remove Jak's hand and snapped. "Jak, you don't even know your dad! How could you possibly understand?"

Jak was hurt at this. He didn't remember much of his father, all he knew at this point was purple eyes that glowed when he saw him or when he was about to do a mission for the good of the city. Jak missed the man but would shortly forget about him. Kiera had left him sad now to but he would still try with the girl.

Kiera sighed and quietly whispered. "You wouldn't understand…"

**~Jak~**

The Lurker attack was brutal. It left Sandover Village ransacked but it could easily be cleaned up. However that was beyond the concern of a certain family we all know was going through its own set of issues. As of right now Samos was treating his wife of five months of her injuries during the attack. The whole attack had been a surprise, Iris had been outside tending to her flowerbeds when the Lurkers had begun attacking. Everyone made it out alive and were residing in their homes, but Jak, Kiera, Samos and Iris were attending to the woman they had called a wife or a mother.

Iris' wounds were brutal and they could not be treated with simple supplies. They needed to treat her with green eco directly which was quite a dangerous procedure. Lucky for her though she had Samos who had treated many in the Underground, though he had never seen an injury this extreme, he still tried to save her, he had to.

Samos had a green aura around him as his hands sent a flow of the green energy into a gash on her stomach, his were void of irises and instead glowed an emerald green with the power of the life energy coursing through his veins and into the woman he loved.

Kiera and Jak were holding her hands, they held so much hope.

"Hang on mommy." Kiera said to the woman.

"I'm trying Kiera." She confirmed.

"Hold on my darling!" Samos insisted, intensifying the green eco put into her.

"Samos." She choked. "This is not enough!"

Samos complied by pumping more eco into the woman. He wasn't going to give up on Iris, she had meant too much to him and wanted to spend as much time with the woman as he could before he would return to Haven within the next twelve years.

Jak willed the woman to live as well. He loved her just as much as Samos and Kiera and didn't want to lose her either.

Iris let a single tear out of one of her eyes. She sighed. "Samos, I'm not going to make it!"

"YES YOU WILL!" The Sage replied, the eco radiating off of him began to grow more intense than ever. The Eco crackled off of him like electricity and you could see the energy flowing from trees, flowers and anything organic that was did not achieve sentience. His eyes bled the substance almost like tears; it was quite wispy and flowed out of him quickly. He continued to let the eco flow out of him and into the woman.

She was trying to hold on but could hear the sounds of the Precursors and a bright light intensifying in a sort of second vision. She knew she wouldn't make it and realized it was time for her to go. She wouldn't leave without saying her goodbyes though.

"Kiera listen to me!" Iris told her. The girl turned and looked at her the immediate fear in her eyes as she didn't want to lose her mother. "You'll take good care of the boys. You hear me?" She asked referring to Jak and Samos.

"Yes I will mommy!" She cried.

"Good." She smiled. "Samos is your daddy now. He'll nurture and care for you and pick up where Mazon left off. He loves you and cares for you. Okay?"

Kiera cried. Intensifying her grip on the woman's hand as if holding her down would keep her spirit from ascending to the heavens. "I need you mommy!"

Iris didn't answer her as it was too painful to respond. "Jak, I want you to take good care of Kiera, she's your little sister and I know how much you love her! You'll grow up to be a big strong man who will watch over his family no matter what!"

Jak nodded. He took these words to heart and would try his best to follow the woman's word. She was the closest thing he had to a mother and would follow her wishes. Little did he know he would follow these words closely as he would care for Kiera, Daxter, Samos and even Torn, Ashlin and Sig when the time came. He would be what his mother wanted him to be. The tears still escaped his eyes and he intensified the grip he had on the woman's hand for the same reasons as Kiera.

She lastly turned to Samos who was going crazy with eco as he continued to pump her with it, hoping that it would keep her alive. She let out a sad smile at the man. "Samos… sweet… sweet… Samos… You're going to finish our job and watch over these children. You'll raise them to be adults who will flourish and continue our legacy!"

"No Iris!" He cried out, actually tears flowing from his eyes that were literally green. They trailed down his face staining it and making even darker green creases down it. "I won't allow you to leave! Not yet! I need you!"

She let out a final smile and said. "I love you Samos. Not just you but all three of you. You're my family and I'm glad I could get to know each and every one of you."

"Iris!" He called out.

"I love you…" She sighed.

BOOM!

A crack of thunder rang out through the sky and like that she was gone. Rain began to fall, hitting the hut making a slow pitter-patter sound as if the Precursors themselves were crying as well from the heavens. The eco immediately cut off and Samos fell to the ground on his knees.

He frantically checked the woman's pulse but found nothing. "No…" He choked. "No… NO!" He shouted. Like that the plants around the hut died from the sages cry.

The children wailed as they felt the slight warmth escape from their mother's body.

They all cried Jak, Kiera and Samos. All of them cried, being a united front for the first time ever. They cried knowing they'd lost the one woman they all cared about.

**~Jak~**

Kiera and Jak sat alone in their shared room. They had just finished burying their mother and the funeral had ended after Samos, The mayor and The Bird Lady had said a few words about her as she was closest to them; Samos: her lover; The Mayor: her childhood friend; and The Bird Lady: Her best friend.

As for the Hagaii family, things hadn't been going very well. Kiera blamed Samos for not saving her and he was too saddened by the loss of his wife to say much. Jak tried to comfort Kiera but of course to no avail as she would not accept the fact that he was now his half/adopted brother.

Jak noticed the girl crying over his mother's death. Perhaps it was best to give it up the child thought. Kiera would never accept Jak and perhaps he should move on with his life.

"Jak?" Kiera called out between cries surprising him. "Can you come here?"

Jak obliged and stalked over to the grieving girl. He just looked at her surprised at this.

"Did you love my mommy?" Kiera asked him.

Jak nodded.

"But why?" She asked. "She's not your mommy; Samos isn't even your father either so why do you love them so much?"

Jak shrugged. He knew that they weren't his real family, but they gave him love and a home when his parents couldn't as of the moment.

"I get it." Kiera sighed. "They loved you, and you loved them back."

Jak nodded. He put a hand on her shoulder.

Suprisingly she left it there. "I just miss her Jak…"

Jak nodded.

"Now I'm all alone. Both mommy and daddy are gone, they've both left me all alone." Kiera whined.

Jak stood up and she looked at him. He shook his head from side to side, saying no and pointed a hand at himself and another at a plank of wood.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

He brought her head up to look at him.

"I am alone Jak!" She argued. "Mommy and daddy left and I've got no one!"

Jak sighed. But continued to look at her sternly. He wasn't going to give up on Kiera.

"Jak, it's nice that you don't want me to be alone. But you and Samos can't help me! You wouldn't understand what it's like to lose your parents!"

Jak glared at her. Who was she to tell her that? At least she knows what happened to her parents. Jak didn't even remember his mother and Damas was a distant memory.

Kiera's eyes widened at this. She didn't realize the full intensity of her words. "J-Jak, I'm sorry…"

Jak didn't know what to say. His glare softening at the girls apology.

"I-I'm just so sad!" Her eyes watered. "Mommy was all I had left."

Jak once again pointed to himself and the plank of wood shaking his head from side to side.

Kiera finally got the message. "Jak, you're right I-I'm not alone."

Jak smiled at this and nodded.

She cried and flung herself at the boy wailing into his shoulder. She cried and cried and cried and Jak only patted her on the back unsure of what to do.

When she finally stopped crying she looked up at Jak and smiled. "You know Jak, you're a very good listener."

Jak nodded and smiled.

"But you're not my brother." She said to the boy, making his smile fall. "You're my friend, I'm sorry that I wasn't fair with you. Can we start over?"

Jak nodded. He didn't mind starting over with the girl, it had meant that they could grow to be closer and maybe even more over time.

**~Jak~**

Jak and Kiera were getting along quite well now. After the night of the funeral she calmed down a bit and was able to accept both Jak and Samos. The latter of the two was her 'daddy' and the former her best friend. Jak didn't mind being friends with Kiera and not being her brother, Samos even agreed to it and although they were still his family he was there under their refuge as a sort of guest. It still hurt a little not being a son or a brother but nevertheless he would learn to forgive and forget. He was very young and impressionable so Samos figured it was better this happened now than later, so that Kiera and Jak would develop the feelings they'll eventually develop without the barrier of family setting in and possibly causing an effect on the time stream.

Six year old Jak and Kiera were now walking together in Sentinel Beach ahead of Samos. They pushed and shoved ahead of each other playfully, laughing and smiling being two great friends. Needless to say everything was going well for the two now that things had calmed down.

"Slow down children!" Samos called out after the two.

"We'll be fine daddy!" Kiera reassured the man.

The two continued to push and shove each other laughing and playing. Then Jak shoved the girl a bit harder causing her to fall into the sand rather than being disoriented. But the girl wasn't going down alone as she grabbed Jak's hand pulling the young boy down with her. With Jak being on top of Kiera the two began to roll in the sand struggling for control while still laughing with each other. They laughed and laughed and laughed as they played together not caring about anything in the world.

Samos had finally caught up to the two children and grabbed them each by the collars of their shirts. The two children were still smiling despite being held by the man. "Alright that's enough. We came to the beach so that you two could play in the water, not in the sand." He laughed.

The two children nodded and they made their way towards the ocean with Samos.

**~Jak~**

"Jak?" Kiera asked nudging the boy awake from his slumber.

It was late at night, Jak and Kiera were sleeping in the lower level of Samos' hut that the two shared.

Jak slowly opened his eyes as he looked up at the teal haired girl.

"I had a nightmare." She said to the blonde haired boy.

Jak sighed and yawned. He got up into a sitting position and patted the bed next to her. Kiera quickly went to the place Jak had designated for her and sat down. She leaned her head against Jak's shoulder to lightly cry as Jak brought his arms around the girl.

This happened quite often as Kiera needed someone to hold her when she was weak. Luckily Jak was there to protect her.

**~Jak~**

Eight year old Jak smiled as he moved into his Uncle's hut. He was moving the last of his things out of the room he and Kiera shared under Samos' hut and into his new room in his Uncle's hut.

Kiera and Daxter were more than happy to help Jak move, well Kiera was. Finally the last box was moved.

"It's gonna be weird with you and Kiera not living in the same place." Daxter said. "Even weirder that Jak's living with this old geezer!"

"Daxter!" Kiera shouted. "Jak really likes this guy, you can't say that!"

"Whaaaaat?" He asks. "Jak doesn't mind…"

Jak shot daggers at the redhead but he was oblivious to this.

"Besides," Kiera sighed. "It's okay if Jak wants to leave. It won't change because we'll still be able to play together and have Samos' lessons."

"Yeah," Daxter smirked. "Nothing to worry about."

**~Jak~**

Nine year old Jak stood in Kiera's portion of the hut. She hadn't seen the green tint in Jak's hair yet, but Jak was going to change that. He was quite nervous about it but after showing Daxter and Samos and receiving their positive reactions. Kiera scared him the most over this as he thought the girl's reaction would hurt him the most.

He took a deep breath before walking in to see the girl doodling what appears to be Jak. He gives the pane of the hut's entrance a slight knock causing the girls head to jerk up and look at the boy in surprise.

"J-Jak?" She gasps. She then quickly shoves the drawing into a drawer her face slightly flushed red.

Jak didn't really bother to ask about what she had been drawing despite his slight curiosity, he just waved to the girl.

"Um, h-hi Jak." She halfheartedly smiles at the young boy. "How are you?"

Jak shrugs still waiting for her to notice the change in hair color. _Why won't she notice?_

Kiera begins to walk up to the boy and that's when she takes notice of the lingering shade of green creeping up the boy's hair. "Jak what's that?" She asks pointing at the faded grassy green of the boys roots.

Jak shrugs, still waiting for her to make a clear reaction to his slight mutation. Kiera doesn't really say much though, they just stand there in silence.

Jak wonders to this day what she thinks of this green tint to his hair.

**~Jak~**

"I had another nightmare last night." Kiera sighed.

Jak turned to the girl, clearly worried about this revelation. Kiera had been having nightmares for years and Jak always felt bad that he wasn't there to protect her from them.

Jak simply nodded he wouldn't dare try and ask about them but still he deeply worried for her.

"I miss having you there Jak…" She cried sighed.

Jak wrapped her arms around her caringly a bit understanding towards what the girl was feeling.

"Daddy says I have to be a big girl but…" She didn't dare continue, she didn't want to tell Jak what the true cause of her nightmares was.

Jak just sighed. Those were the few times he regretted moving out and staying with his uncle. Kiera needed him during those nights but he couldn't help her without leaving his uncle who he loved dearly.

Jak just tried to comfort the crying girl even though he knew he couldn't truly be there for her like he used to.

**~Jak~**

Things started to change in Jak, Daxter and Kiera now that they were ten years old. Things started growing; new feelings arose; things just weren't the same!

For Jak while his body was growing, new feelings for Kiera began to develop. It started small, Jak noticing the way her emerald eyes shone like torches in the night sky or the way he greatly desired running his fingers through the rolling fields of turquoise he came to know as Kiera's hair. Then there were unmentionable parts of his anatomy that started getting bigger and bigger, he didn't really mention those to anyone as they were an unspoken taboo. Then of course his usual grunts, gasps and other forms of audible communication began to grow deeper, he almost imagined having a voice as deep as The Fisherman's at the rate it was going. These new changes certainly confused the boy like it would most.

Daxter's changes were probably the most abrupt. It started with the way he began looking at the women in the village. He noticed the way the Mayor's wife's hips swayed; the way The Fisherman's wife had an appealing body shape; the way the bird lady _didn't_ have any of these things. It became ridiculous. Then there was the fact that his voice got much higher than usual, his mother said it was a phase but he wasn't quite sure. It's too bad that these feelings would get worse in Haven with even more beautiful women. Then of course he would never grow out of his awkward stage as he would forever remain an ottsle.

Lastly there's Kiera who probably got the worst of them all. Mounds began to sprout out of her chest whereas Daxter and Jak remained flat; she started bleeding where she couldn't explain to her father and had to see the Bird Lady to help with; her hips and backside getting much wider than they needed to be. Needless to say she was having a ton of fun with puberty… then there were the feelings that started to arise. Much like Jak she noticed a lot of things about her best friend: The way his developing muscles would ripple when carrying out menial labor; the way his round ocean blue eyes would glow when he was with his loved ones or his dangerous lust for adventure (normally the latter of the two;) or of course the way she enjoyed his strong silence turned into a much better attraction than it had throughout her childhood. With all these things happening to the girl she could only wish for things to calm down a bit.

Needless to say all these feelings caused tension between the three children at least for a little while.

Jak and Kiera would shuffle past each other; Kiera letting out a gentle hello under her breath; Jak hardly looking up from the ground as she passes by, only letting out a shadow of a wave. Kiera and Daxter never really had any problems, that is until Daxter started flirting with her. At first it was subtle, just hinting at having a romance, references that made Kiera uncomfortable. Then it became more and more frequent distancing Kiera from the boy. Jak and Daxter however were probably the best off of the three, but even then they still had issues. Jak really liked Kiera and so did Daxter causing petty arguments to rise between them even though Jak never really saw Daxter as a threat, it just bothered him.

Needless to say puberty was a bitch to the three of them. It seemed their friendship was at its lowest but that was all about to change today.

Jak, Daxter and Kiera often hung out together, being the few children of their age in the village they didn't have many options.

The three children were on the beach as the norm. They had decided to collect seashells as Kiera had suggested. The three had decided to keep to their own corners of the beach though, not really bothering to talk to one another with all the tension that had come between them.

Daxter was getting quite tired of not having his friends around like he used to. Things just weren't the same between him, Kiera and Jak. He loved his friends and wished things weren't too awkward between the three of them. He decided that he would make an effort to talk to them and he thought he'd go to Jak first.

"Hey buddy!" Daxter approached his friend with arms full of seashells and his usual wide, mischievous grin plastered on his face.

Jak looked up at Daxter and gave him a small smile and a wave.

"How's it going?" He asked, picking up seashells that littered the sandy dunes.

Jak shrugged, not really sure how to answer the question.

Daxter nodded. "How about we go and talk to Kiera?" Daxter asked.

Jak wasn't sure about this. Things weren't exactly okay between the two of them yet, but Daxter wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"Come on!" He shouted while pushing the boy over to the girl. Jak stumbled over to Kiera and knocked her to the floor.

The two were on top of each other it was awkward as they just stared into each other's eyes only wanting more and more out of each other. Daxter noticed this too and realized how out of line he was with Kiera and Jak. He figured he'd still joke with the girl about it but wouldn't be as upfront as usual.

Ignoring this thought for the time being, Daxter coughed to get their attention. "Ahem, should I give you two a minute?"

Jak and Kiera blushed before quickly getting off each other. Daxter laughed while the two were growing redder and redder.

"Daxter!" Kiera choked. "That's not funny!"

Jak nodded in agreement while his red headed friend continued laughing.

"Oh, come on lighten up a little you two!" He laughed. "It's all in good fun right. We're all still friends after all right?"

Jak and Kiera looked at each other. It's true that things had been shaky between the three of them for a while and they all really just wanted to let things get back to normal. It was just hard though.

Kiera was the first to speak what the two were thinking. "Well Daxter it's just that…"

"No! No! That what?" Daxter asked. "I say we just let whatever happens happen and just get back to normal."

Jak and Kiera looked at each other. Clearly thinking about it, to be honest they both liked the idea that Daxter presented and decided that would be best. Jak thought that as much as he had feelings for Kiera he'd rather be friends for now at least.

Jak and Kiera nodded at each other before Daxter finally sighed in relief.

It wouldn't exactly be easy to make things work out for them normally. But let's just say they'd settle down and deal with their feelings soon enough.

**~Jak~**

Jak looked at the goggles that rested on the floor. He was quite proud to wear them. His best friend Kiera made them for his birthday. Who wouldn't love something from her?

Of course now she was away for a week after requesting to see the Blue Sage about something. She tried to explain it to Jak but it just seemed like rambling to him. He tried following along but he lost her when she mentioned power cell and using precursor metal for some sort of flying machine.

Needless to say he missed his good friend a lot.

He was now wading in the waters of Sentinel Beach with Daxter. The two were just enjoying themselves, but Jak still seemed a little more spaced out than usual.

Daxter saw this and was saddened by it. He was hoping that being alone with Jak would be good for the two of them, not having to deal with his slight awkwardness with Kiera and all. But sadly he was mistaken. Kiera's departure had left Jak so down it was quite bothersome to the redhead.

"Come on Jak!" The redhead whined to the boy who was absentmindedly maneuvering through the still waters of the beach.

Jak looked up at his friend trying to give the best grin he could with his sadness. But it wasn't much.

"Let's have a water fight!" Daxter suggested, splashing the boy.

Jak smiled a little but it wasn't much.

"How about a race then?" He asked.

Jak just sighed, he felt bad for doing this to Daxter. It's just that he missed Kiera so much.

Daxter sighed. "Ya'know Jak you can't be moping over Kiera the whole time she's gone."

Jak looked at him unsure of where he was going with this.

"I'm just saying." He told him. "I mean while she's gone she wouldn't want you to be sad! She'd want you to miss her sure, but not so lost and sad without her."

Jak thought about what Daxter said. He was right, Kiera wouldn't want him to be this sad.

He smiled at Daxter and then began to splash at him.

"Haha!" Daxter laughed. "That's more like it Jak!"

The two then continued their water fight laughing and splashing as much as they could. Jak forgot about Kiera for a little while and was just able to have fun with Daxter. Jak still missed Kiera, but thanks to Daxter he was able to have fun without her.

This taught Jak that distance definitely did make the heart grow fonder. He couldn't wait for her to return.

**~Jak~**

14 year olds Jak and Kiera were alone on Geyser Rock. Jak wanted to get some more training with blue eco and wanted someone to come out with him. Naturally it would be Daxter and Kiera but the mischievous redhead found himself swamped with chores.

Kiera watched Jak zip past her as he was currently charged with blue eco. She always admired the boy's ability to channel eco into his body and use it in seemingly endless ways. She could hardly handle getting treated with green eco, she had no idea how Jak was able to get into contact with colors like blue and red.

Jak now jogged back to her looking expectantly.

"That was six seconds, Jak." She smiled at him. "You're getting faster and faster every time!"

Jak smiled at her. He loved it when she praised him for his efforts. It felt just as nice as when he would marvel at whatever mechanical masterpieces she was able to assemble.

Jak jumped up and down, a grin plastered on his face. He wanted to try some more eco.

"Really Jak?" Kiera asked. "It's getting a little late don't you think?"

Jak then looked up at the sky seeing that it was reddening. Strange, it was noon when he and Kiera had gone out. To Jak it had hardly been five minutes since he'd started. He wasn't sure if time flew because how much he loved channeling eco or how much he enjoyed spending quality time with Kiera. Perhaps it was an odd combination of the two? Whatever it was this wasn't nearly enough time for him to enjoy.

He looked at Kiera and nodded. He knew she was right, no matter how much he wanted to stay with her and channel eco.

At least it was a good day. He couldn't imagine any better way than to spend it except for maybe fitting Daxter in somewhere.

Jak began to walk with her towards the rift gate expecting Kiera to follow.

Not even taking his fifth step back Kiera called back to him. "Wait, Jak?"

He turned to see her sitting on one of the many worn boulders that litter the island with grasses growing on them making them a rather comfortable seat. He looked at her curiously.

"Can we talk for a second?" She asked.

Jak looked at her and nodded. Clearly wanting to know what she wanted to see him for. He casually strutted over to the rock and sat down next to her. He now gave her his full attention.

"What are we, Jak?" Kiera asked the boy.

Jak looked at her, clearly unsure of how to answer.

"I mean seriously, Jak." She started. "We've been so close for so long. I want more and I know you want more. So where are we in this relationship? What are we?"

Jak didn't really know how to answer the question. He understood what she was asking him but he honestly didn't know how to answer it. It's not that he didn't want to hurt her it's just he really didn't really know what kind of relationship the two of them had either. He just gave her a sad smile and shrugged at her. He knew it was bad but he honestly didn't know what to do. What could he say to her that could possibly answer the question, he always imagined more with Kiera but he would be more prepared for the million orb question.

Kiera got the picture she knew she wasn't going to get an honest answer out of the boy yet. It was too soon, she'd miscalculated it. She quickly changed the subject. "I really enjoyed the time we shared today."

Jak nodded. He was way more comfortable with this than he was with what Kiera had originally wanted.

"It was nice to spend some alone time with you." She smiled.

Jak nodded again, grinning from ear to ear. He really did enjoy the day with Kiera. He felt much closer with her now that they were all alone after some time.

She sighed and nestled her head into Jak's unarmored shoulder. Jak kind of jumped in response, he honestly hadn't expected that much from the girl. She looked up at him a little irritated but Jak looked at her apologetically. She then tried once again and Jak smiled. He felt a light tingling sensation from the girls touch and didn't want it to end.

He smiled and the two of them kind of sat there watching the sunset. This was a perfect moment and they didn't want anything to ruin it.

"There you two are!" An irritably familiar voice shouted from behind them. The two jumped in surprise, Kiera fell off the rock even. The two turned to see their redheaded friend.

Jak glared at Daxter whereas Kiera was as red as a tomato from the awkwardness of the situation.

Daxter chuckled to himself and ignored how annoyed his two friends were with him. He continued, "Old greeny and I have been looking for the two of you everywhere! You know it's past curfew and if he saw you guys like this he'd kill you!"

Jak and Kiera sighed. They knew the boy was right, even if he didn't believe those words himself and was probably had more fun embarrassing his two friends they had to listen.

Jak got up from the rock and helped Kiera up. Daxter was already heading off towards the rift gate.

"Come on lovebirds!" Daxter shouted. "Let's go home!"

The two followed after him, clearly annoyed with the boy. But nonetheless they followed after him.

The two didn't really mention the conversation after this, nor did they mention that how cozy they got with each other. Daxter didn't see the need to pick on them about it after a week of rambling on and on about it so they simply dropped it. No need to elaborate on the situation right?

Wrong. This only caused them to want each other more and wonder what they really did mean to each other. Ain't love grand?

**~Jak~**

**(Once again don't remember this exactly but I think I got it close enough)**

"HA!" Jak shouted and the bubble of light eco lurched from his hand and into the Precursor Robot. The robot exploded into tiny pieces, the Precursor Metal breaking into tiny bits and the additional armor Gol and Mia collected scattered. The metal pod that made the head of the Precursor robot shot up into the air.

"It's coming down!" Daxter shouted as he looked in horror at the pod that was falling down towards the completely open dark eco silo.

Jak and Daxter then dove down to the outer ring of the silo hitting the Precursor Metal hard. They quickly covered their heads with their arms in a feeble attempt to protect themselves from the falling robot or any eco that may splash out.

The robot fell into the dark eco with the corrupted eco sage and his sister inside. It immediately clamped shut with them inside.

Jak and Daxter cautiously got up, scanning the area in fear of something else happening. "Is it over?" The ottsle asked his good friend.

Suddenly the dark purple sky that had changed upon the battle's exposition lightened and changed to a pink hue that had the orange of the rising sun ever so slightly giving it a slight golden tint, it reminded Jak of a peach. The change in the sky signified that the Precursors themselves had warded off the danger. It was finally over.

Jak gave his friend a nod and a warm smile. Daxter smirked at him; they now knew that together they could do incredible things.

Finally the blue eco platform that they had used to reach the silo descended from above and sat waiting for them. Jak and Daxter approached it and they rose off into the air.

It finally dawned on Jak and Daxter that they had become heroes. This excited them, I mean who wouldn't get excited by this? When all seemed lost, they were able to right all that seemed wrong with the world. This was an amazing thing for them. So what did they do? They danced of course.

Kiera, Samos and the other three sages looked out for the boys. They saw the end of the battle but weren't sure whether Jak and Daxter would be able to come out okay.

Samos and Kiera were the most worried of the five; Samos knew Jak and Daxter could do it and he just hoped that the two of them would be able to come out in one piece so that they could still fulfill what was left of their destiny; but Kiera, Kiera was worried sick for her two good friends: Daxter, the boy that got turned into an ottsle, who constantly flirted with her, was a major annoyance and managed to ruin a lot of things in the village but was much wiser beyond his years whether he knew it or not and knew how to make the girl laugh and smile; Jak, her best friend, the strong, silent kid that she always thought was destined for great things, the boy who had a remarkable ability for channeling eco, he smiled when she created a new invention, was able to make her feel comfort from a nightmare, the boy who had rippling muscles that made her insides twist just by looking at him, she knew she loved him and was worried for him more than the ottsle.

Finally their eyes fell on the blue eco platform and Kiera let out a heavy sigh of relief as she saw her two good friends end their break dance in a defiant pose, looking up at them with the biggest grins she'd ever seen on their faces.

The platform finally reached them and the two walked off of it, a new swagger in both their strides. They were heroes.

"Well I'll be?" Samos laughed, clearly flabbergasted with what had happened and still trying to reach a clear comprehension towards the event. "You two do have what it takes to be heroes!"

Jak smirked at this, he and Daxter knew Samos would be the last to admit to that truth, of course they didn't know that he believed in them more than anyone else.

"Samos," The Blue Sage started, while tapping his staff to the ground. "This boy has an incredible gift for channeling eco. You may have been right about this one after all!" Of course they hadn't realized that there was much more to what he said, as the Sages all knew the truth.

"And Kiera, without your ingenuity we wouldn't be here to see this today." The Red Sage confirmed making Kiera smile.

But then Kiera realized something. _What about Daxter? We weren't able to get him cured. Wasn't that the whole point of this journey in the first place?_ "But Daxter, now we can't change you back."

Daxter smirked. "Don't worry about me, baby! You know what they say: 'big things come in small packages.'"

Kiera however dropped out of the conversation in favor of the young hero in question. She stared into his big blue eyes that literally glowed with happiness.

Jak looked at Kiera, things were great. He was a hero. It was awesome, he'd imagined going on adventures and becoming a hero but he never expected to do something so great, so early in his life. He figured that there was one thing missing from all the stories his uncle had told him. The one thing that he had found disgusting as a child but felt quite desirable now. He had to kiss the girl. He and Kiera had the spark for each other but they had never officially gotten romantically involved with each other. They flirted all the time, sure and now she was staring at him with those beautiful emerald green eyes, so why not?

He leaned in close to her, time seemed to slow down as he took her in. Her ever so slightly tanned skin, the emerald green eyes that seemed to flutter as they drew closer and closer to him, he noticed the slight blush that crept on her face. Finally they would get physical with each other, finally they might become more finally they-

"JAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAK!" The Ottsle shouted pushing their faces away from each other. The two looked at the ottsle irritably before he said. "Put it on ice big guy!"

They were 15 years old. Perhaps they should wait another couple of years to kiss. It would make sense since they were so young. But still, it's not like he didn't want to kiss her. He resented Daxter for ruining their possible first kiss.

**~Jak~**

Throughout his time in prison he never forgot Kiera. Between his treatments he would remember the girl with the turquoise hair and emerald green eyes. Her memory was part of the reason he was able to hold on for so long.

He sat in his cell, the dark eco slightly radiating off of him from the overexposure to dark eco. He panted from the twisted energy that was trying to eject itself from his body through a wispy gas that constantly flowed from him, he knew it would stop soon though it always did.

Even through this he still thought of Kiera. He remembered the way her hips swayed. He remembered the way his eyes liked to rest on her chest and backside. He remembered the way that when she was sad she'd let him slide a tuft of her hair away from her eyes.

But it just wasn't her body he loved, there was also her personality.

He loved her for her ingenuity, the way her eyes lit up when she would invent something new, it always amazed him when she would figure out how to make something new. He loved it when she was able to cut loose and be able to laugh and smile with both Daxter and he. He loved her maturity, the way she was able to take the severity in a situation and easily find her way out of it. He loved the fact that she was just alive in her own ways where Daxter wasn't. He missed her dearly.

'I, I just miss you…' He thought to himself.

' **Again with the girl?'** His ever growing dark form had asked.

'Sure,' He actually shrugged as he shot this back at him. 'Why not?'

' **She's a waste of time.'** He started. **'If you ask me, we need a real woman. Someone who would be able to feed us and our desires.'**

'I- I'm not like that.' Jak stated. 'Kiera and I meet each other much more than on a physical level.'

The malevolent figure laughed, **'Why would you want to meet someone other than at a physical level? If you ask me you can find someone a lot better than that bitch.'**

'Stop. Just, stop.' Jak said to the voice. 'Don't ever call her that again!'

His dark form didn't respond. The eco finally stopped radiating off of him so either it was out of eco and didn't have the energy to respond or he didn't feel like arguing with him. It was probably the former of the two as he always liked to argue with him.

It didn't help that his dark form didn't like Kiera much and only wanted to use her for his sexual desires. Either way he still wanted her over anyone his dark form could approve of. Not to mention he actually did love her body, regardless of what his dark form felt.

He wished he could see her again.

**~Jak~**

**A/N God, I don't remember this scene at all and my internet sucks so I can't check.**

Suddenly he felt two soft mounds with quite a diameter push against his back which made his stomach flutter. No bother trying to figure out what that was. Normally he'd like the feeling of a woman but she currently had her arm tightly around his neck and a pistol pointed at the side of his head.

"Who the hell are you?" The deeply feminine voice asked him.

The voice was right in his ear suggesting that she was taller than him. This surprise attack clearly explained to him why Torn sent out him of all people to help out this girl. No one in their right mind would ever want to show up and be at the end of the barrel of a pistol. Daxter let out words that didn't catch Jak's ears as he was too busy worrying about the pistol shoved in his face.

Jak stammered. "We- We came to help. Torn sent us!" He was usually a lot more alert and wasn't used to surprises like this.

"I don't need any help." The girl spat, she then let go of Jak and began to strut over to her hellcat completely dismissive towards the two. That's when Jak's eyes fixed on her posterior. Large, plump, her jeans hugged her ass leaving little to imagination, leaving even less to imagination were the straps of her thong that came up to her hips. All of that certainly perked up a certain part of Jak's anatomy.

' **What a woman!'** His dark from hooted from inside of him. Jak wanted to deny it but he couldn't help but agree. **'With girls like this who needs that other bitch?'**

That's what turned Jak off and he returned to reality. He just couldn't imagine being attracted to a girl other than Kiera no matter how sexy she may be.

"But it looks like you two will." The woman warned as metal heads began to crawl down the walls with their four claws that acted as legs, their weapons drawn and glowing in anticipation. "Cover my six."

Jak drew his morph gun and immediately changed it to his blaster mod, firing blasts of yellow eco from the barrel of the gun making a few of the metal heads fall to the ground before they could even make it down the wall.

Other metal heads were able to crawl down the stone walls of the Pumping Station and began to scamper around Daxter and the two warriors with their electrified clubs and makeshift red eco guns. Jak fired a blast of yellow eco at an oncoming metal head knocking it down before swiftly dodging a blast of red eco from one of its surviving comrades.

Jak immediately felt a burn on his back. He turned to see a snarling metal head with a smoking gun staff. He was about to send a punch at it but it quickly fell when a single shot of red eco hit its face causing it to fall to the ground dead. Jak looked to the source of the shot to see the girl smiling.

So this is Ashlin? Besides her good body she had cream colored skin and auburn hair that shone brightly against the sunlight of the Pumping Station. She wore an open blue jean jacket that went with her blue jeans as well as a red half shirt under the jacket. She was also decked out in various Krimson Guard equipment, from medals to shoulder guards to something as simple as her gun holster, all of them bore the familiarly hated red symbol. She also had cherry red lipstick that complimented her red hair and various Krimson Guard tattoos on her face and long, pointed ears. But then there was something that intrigued Jak a bit, she had emerald green eyes. They weren't round and full of mystery like Kiera's were, they glinted with a thirst for adventure much like his own did, this common subject was quite calming and added flavor to the girl despite her natural seductiveness.

She winked at him with a slight smirk before running off and taking down more of these Metal Heads. He stood there baffled as each of her shots hit the metal heads right on target getting each one right between the eyes, even he wasn't that precise in his aim and he's fired both yellow and light eco directly from his bare hands. He noticed her agility she wasn't nearly as fierce with her punches and kicks as he was but made up for that in her agility as she was easily able to weave her way between the metal heads.

She could fend for herself. That was definitely something he wasn't used to. With Kiera he always had to run to her rescue and that felt great to see her smile when she was able to save him. But this woman before him could fight for herself. It was baffling.

"Snap out of it Jak!" Daxter shouted while backhanding the young man's forehead. "We have company!"

Jak smirked and continued to get back to the Metal Heads. However half the time his eyes fell on the girl helping him dispose of these metal heads.

Finally they finished and the girl began to strut back to her hellcat.

"You've got moves." She complemented him.

"Thanks you do to." Jak returned the gesture.

Of course Daxter wanting just as much from the woman as Jak did (probably even more) he jumped off Jak's shoulder and tried to make his voice as seductive as possible. "Must have been pretty exciting watching me take out those metal heads wasn't it."

She ignored him and started up the hellcat. This began to blow Daxter back as the jets were too much for his tiny body. "Wait gimme your digits!" He pleaded. "We can party hard! Big city style!"

Jak just chuckled at the little ottsles rants and then looked down at the pin he'd been handed.

"You're name's Ashlin?" Jak asked, although he already knew.

"Yes," She answered. She then flew off on her hell cat flying off into the distance.

Jak just looked on in wonder. He'll admit he didn't expect to be attracted to this girl. But fighting with someone rather than fighting for them felt much more exhilarating than fighting for them that was for sure.

**~Jak~**

"Jak," She tried to approach him before his dark form flashed in his eyes, daring her to come closer. "You've changed."

He sighed. "It's been a tough ride."

She nodded and returned to her position behind the now open curtain. "I'm glad to have you two back." She said.

"How did you get here, Kiera." He asked her.

Kiera sighed. "Daddy and I landed here in the city two years ago."

Jak nodded. "Where is Samos?" He'd hoped that maybe he was okay with her.

She sniffed. "I ended up trying to ask for directions from someone. I turned and daddy was gone, I didn't know where he was and I missed him very much."

Jak nodded.

"But now," Kiera smiled. "I have you. So I know we'll be able to find him."

She wanted to go to him. She wanted to feel comfortable with him again but whatever she saw before scared her.

Jak sighed. He didn't know he'd changed that much. He'd flirted with the girl behind the curtain so much because he'd liked to poke fun at her, for being so annoying. He didn't actually know it was the girl he desired.

Now that she was back he'd expected more from her. But alas things with Kiera would be even more complicated now.

**~Jak~**

"Ashlin is the Baron's daughter?" He'd asked, completely flabbergasted at the new revelation he'd been given.

He couldn't believe what he'd just heard him say. A guard had mentioned the Baron's daughter and then Ashlin's name comes up. He couldn't believe it. She was so different from her father. How could she even be in the same gene pool as someone as horrible as him?

All he knew is that now he was completely turned off to the girl. There was no way he would date the daughter of a tyrannical dictator, he'd focus all his efforts on Kiera from now on.

**~Jak~**

Jak and Kiera were walking around in the empty stadium just talking. Daxter had been doing God knows what with Tess since he decided to head off with her halfway through their meeting at the Hip Hog Salon.

"I've seen hundreds of drivers come through here." Kiera laughed. "But I'll admit, none of them drive like you do Jak."

"Well I did learn from the best." He smirked.

"That's true." She smiled. "If it weren't for me making the A-Grav and giving you the proper instructions you wouldn't have been able to figure it out yourself."

He chuckled. "Oh is that so?"

"Definitely." She smirked.

He laughed. He knew it was true, I mean Kiera is pretty much the reason he's great on a Zoomer. She built the thing, so obviously she knew how to work one best.

"So what do you think about all the zoomers around here?" He asked her.

"I don't know." She started. "Do you want my honest opinion?"

"How bad could it be?" He asked rhetorically.

"I can't stand them." She revealed. "They're better than what I could make with their resources, sure. But thee workmanship is terrible, you can tell that their rushed based on how weak they are not to mention pretty uncomfortable. Plus I don't even know how they got the two-seater to work, I had just started thinking about that before we left."

"It's a real mystery." Jak admitted.

Kiera nodded. "Ya I-"

"Talking to the eco freak?" A familiar voice called.

The two turned to see Errol standing with a smug expression on his face. Clearly he was amused with this. His very presence made Jak's blood broil and he almost allowed his dark form to come forward.

"Errol," Kiera gasped. "Um this is my friend Jak…"

"We've meet." They both said at the same time.

Kiera nodded. "Cool."

"So, Kiera." Errol smirked. "What could you possibly have to do with someone like _him_?"

"We go way… back Errol." Jak confirmed, still pretty pissed off by his mere presence. "Kiera and I are _very_ close."

He wrapped his arm around her protectively.

"Really?" He asked. "Are you now?"

"Yeah we are." Jak confirmed.

"Kiera are we still on for tonight?" Errol asked.

This made Jak stop in his tracks. _What did Errol mean?_ He looked at Kiera who began to glare at Errol.

"It's not a date, Errol." She said.

"What's not a date?" Jak quickly asked, his eyes darting between Kiera and Errol.

"It's just a meeting for the racing circuit, Jak." She explained. "There are going to be like three other guys there."

"So no need to worry." Errol said to him, but then quickly added. "Unless I decide to escort Kiera to her home again. You know how dangerous it is at night, with all the _criminals_ milling about."

Jak wanted to tear Errol to shreds and why shouldn't he? The man has had it coming to him for a while. He was a Krimson Guard; He enjoyed watching people suffer; He was the Baron's lackey for crying out loud! Jak had every right to rip the man to shreds.

Then there was his hold on Kiera. They seemed to be friends which is what bothered him. He hated it even more that the man had interest in Kiera, he had issues years ago when Daxter actually did. But now this dick thinks he can come in and take her away from him. There was no way in hell he would let that happen.

He was about to do something before he saw Kiera's pleading eyes. He sighed, holding back the eco inside of him. His fist actually crackled with the dark energy, before he turned and walked out of the stadium.

That was one of the few times he and Kiera would talk like they used to and now because of Errol it was ruined.

**~Jak~**

"I'm not my father you know," Ashlin started making Jak, Kiera and Daxter turned to the girl. "Everyday I looked down from that ridiculous palace and I imagined a better place."

Kiera's glare slightly softened at this revelation whereas Daxter looked at the girl in surprise and wasn't trying to stare at her chest for once.

Jak took in these words. He'd admitted the revelation that Ashlin was the Baron's daughter definitely had strained their friendship; they didn't see each other nearly as much; the hello's he would give her on the streets seemed to stop; they weren't as talkative on the few missions they had together. She was pretty much dead to Jak.

But now, this revelation was satisfying. It calmed Jak of what he felt towards Ashlin and honestly attracted him just a bit. Someone like that definitely deserved the power right?

**~Jak~**

"What do you see in her?" Kiera asked him.

He turned, that was a little unexpected, they had just been sitting together in Kiera's apartment. Praxis was dead, Kor was stopped, things were beginning to look up for the city and they were sitting at the party that they'd all had now that the city seemed safe.

"Who?" Jak asked, seemingly oblivious to the situation. Though he wasn't he knew that she'd meet Ashlin.

"You know exactly who I mean, Jak!" She shouted.

Jak sighed. "Kiera… Can't we just enjoy the party?"

"I would if you weren't staring at that bimbo the whole time." She shouted.

Jak's head darted around the bar, now dubbed 'The Naughty Ottsle' luckily the girl was away, probably in the bathroom or something.

"I was ready to kiss you tonight Jak." She sighed. "But now I'm almost glad I didn't. You need to stop seeing Ashlin."

"Kiera," Jak tried to calm the girl. "Ashlin and I are just friends, she has Torn and I have you."

"For now…" Kiera whispered under her breath, Jak didn't hear it though. She honestly wasn't sure what would come out of all of this. She didn't want to lose Jak and Jak most certainly didn't want to lose her.

**~Jak~**

"I wish there was something I could do." She said sadly looking into his blue eyes, those wide blue eyes that reminded her of oceans she'd so rarely been to.

He stared back into those emerald green eyes that didn't seem to glow like they usually did. He looked down at the energy cuffs and sighed. "I know."

And it was true, she did try to have him stay in the city but the council was just too strong, there was nothing Ashlin could do to keep him there.

She finally removed his energy cuffs. "You stay alive, you hear me?" She said to him, her eyes lightly softened at the idea of losing the man, she wanted to cry but quickly shook it off before he saw. "That's an order, someone will find you!"

She then handed him a small pendant that had a small gem in the middle of it. It blinked slightly indicating that it was a tracker.

Jak sighed as the carrier hellcat took off. He couldn't help but notice that his gaze was fixed on her ass, even now of all times. He hated the way he was attracted to this girl, yet at the same time he loved it.

Only then did he notice that Daxter and Pecker stood in the place of the Hellcat.

**~Jak~**

**(A/N I actually remember this scene clearly I just added parts that suit my story and this chapter)**

Jak panted as they'd finished off with the metal heads that had ambushed him and Ashlin in the desert. Good, they were finally finished and his dark form was able to get his daily kills so he should've been pretty satisfied with himself.

However there was still the matter of the young general that so desperately needed him to fight for the city that turned his back on him.

"Just like old times. Right, Jak?" The woman asked the still panting warrior.

He nodded, still trying to catch his breath from the great fight.

"Jak, the people need you." She started.

"And I told you that I'm finished with them." He snapped back.

She hadn't yet known he'd gained a light form and just assumed that it was his inner darkness she was responding to. Samos had told her that the dark eco makes jack very aggressive.

She sighed and continued to make their way back to the hellcat. She couldn't help but notice how familiar this scene felt to her. Her, Jak, Daxter a hellcat, and a bunch of metal heads, it reminded her of missions with the slightly younger man and of course the time they first meet. She knew Jak was all too familiar with the scene too.

"Jak, the city needs you more than ever now." She tried to reason with her friend.

"And if I'm not mistaken the same city left me to die." He blankly stated, still quite angry with the ones he'd saved just a year ago.

Ashlin still pressed. "Not everyone agreed with that, Jak! There are people who still believe in you! I believe in you!"

Jak looked away from her his eyes closed in pain. Part of him wanted that to mean more than he thought it did, he knew that his feelings for Ashlin were growing more than he'd have liked. The other part of him though wished that she didn't exist, that they could just going back to being good friends and nothing more, he felt he belonged with Kiera and that he had to be with her.

Ashlin then took out something and placed it in the palm of his hand, concealing it but he already knew what it was.

"Don't you remember who you are, Jak?" She'd asked him as he held the familiar pendant that the Kid had once worn in his hands, gazing at it as it glew in the sunlight.

He squeezed it in his palm as if it was a lifeline. He glared at her before finally saying. "I'm through with saving the world!"

Daxter looked at Jak with his mouth slightly ajar and eyes widened in complete shock. _How could Jak say that?_ He had thought. But then he quickly came to a quick understanding and sadly nodded in agreement.

Ashlin sighed finally giving up and retreated to her hellcat. She got out something and tossed it to him. "Here, Kiera asked me to give this to you."

And like that she took off and left.

He looked at the wrapped gift that Ashlin had given him. He opened it and smirked to see the Jetboard in his hands.

Kiera was still looking out for him. Of course she did. After all they belonged together.

Right?

**~Jak~**

_Kiera._

It was a common topic that came up as he restlessly slept at night within Spargus' palace. Damas insisted that he stay there until he became a real Wastelander.

He looked up at the night sky through the glass paneling on the ceiling. It seemed that the sky was the same as it always was in Sandover out here in Spargus, not dimmed and distorted like Haven made it out to be. The stars shone brightly over the dark expanse and the moon seemed to illuminate the sky from it's pitch black to a very dark blue. Looking up at the sky like this reminded him of his childhood. Staying up late at night with his two friends to look up at the sky and point out constellations from atop Samos' hut. It was nice, but there were the times Daxter couldn't make it and it was just him and Kiera. Sometimes he would just listen to her speak while other times they would silently watch the sky without a word with her head lying on his chest and him carefully running his fingers through her soft blue hair.

It reminded him of the girl all too much sitting in Spargus' palace.

Part of him was tempted to wake the snoring ottsle next to him to calm his nerves, but he knew Daxter would be more annoyed than he would be willing.

He continued to stare at the sky and remembered the times they had in the village, how close they'd truly become and how much he truly meant to her.

What happened to them that changed everything they had?

He knew though. It was obviously Ashlin Praxis.

What did Ashlin Praxis have over Kiera Hagaii? Well of course there was the fact that she was a bad ass, Jak loved that because it was able to compliment his own personality. Not only that but her ass wasn't that bad to look at either. Ashlin had a great body and if he were being honest she had a much better body than Kiera did and he'd probably have more _fun_ with Ashlin than he probably ever could with Kiera. Not only that but Ashlin had the same fighting spirit that Jak had, if there was a problem she would be on the front lines trying to solve it not sitting back and waiting for someone else to handle it like Kiera. Ashlin was also a natural born leader, a much better one than her father and Count Veger that's for sure, she was able to grab a yackow right by the horns and exploit it to is full potentiality. That's what Ashlin had over Kiera.

But Kiera Hagaii definitely had her own advantages over Ashlin and those were more home hitting and down to earth. If there was anyone in this world who knew him best it was either Daxter or Kiera. He couldn't date Daxter, obviously, he wouldn't want to anyway even if he was a girl. So this naturally made Kiera a good choice because she knew Jak so well it was scary, she even helped him discover things about himself that he didn't even know. Then there was of course how natural he and Kiera were with each other. Jak and Kiera were so close that adults in the village always talked of the two getting married some day, even when the thought disgusted them as children, they would always be seen together, the only few times Jak wasn't seen with Kiera or Kiera without Jak is when one of them were with Daxter. It was fair to say that the two were practically inseparable. Finally there was the history that the two shared, Daxter and Kiera go way back… Everyone knew it. In technicality their friendship is over hundreds of years old, their friendship had actually helped save the world believe it or not. Jak and Kiera had so much of a history it didn't seem right for them not to be together.

But then there was still Ashlin.

By the Precursors… What had he done to make things this hard?

**~Jak~**

The last mine car fell onto the new Precursor robot and exploded causing it to stay down and then never attack them again.

Jak looked down at it from where he stood at the edge of the cliff face and smirked. Finally it was down and hopefully he'd never see the Precursor Robot again.

A new gun mod rolled over to him it was cylindrical and seemed to fit right on the barrel of the Vulcan furry. He grinned, another new gun mod was always fun.

Daxter smirked. "Oh yeah, the boys are back in town!"

Jak smirked along ith his furry companion. "Let's go topside and see what kind of trouble we can get into."

Yep, Jak was back in Haven City meaning he would see both Kiera and Ashlin again. Of course this would be interesting, Ashlin still had her charm whereas Kiera had his heart in more ways than one.

**~Jak~**

Jak had been in Haven for a little while, actually it had only been several hours after the fight with the Precursor Robot, he had been wanting to get to the stadium and see Kiera.

"This place looks as bad as my old bedroom back home." Daxter commented on the rubble and destruction that had littered the area.

Jak simply nodded in agreement knowing how right he was.

"Jak," A familiar voice called out. "Over here!"

They turned to see Samos and Kiera standing behind a force field that glowed a pale blue and blurred the two people standing behind it.

It was good to see Samos again. As for Kiera, Jak wasn't as excited as he thought he should've been. He gave them a weak smile. "Samos! Kiera!" He called out to them.

He ran over to the force field separating him from his good friends.

Of course Daxter had to make a crack at the old man. "Ah, Samos… Still as green at the stuff between my toes."

Samos let out a slight growl at the comment but seemed to ignore him. "See Keira, I knew I could feel Jak's energy." He explained to his daughter.

Kiera sadly smiled.

Jak tried to test how strong the force field was by placing his hand on the seemingly transparent surface. To his surprise it repelled him as if it was solid metal.

"My boy, it's good to see you again!" Samos smiled before he took on a more serious expression. "Those passageways below the palace, they must be terribly important. The metal heads and KG robots are advancing toward them and we can't hold out forever.

Jak turned to Daxter. "So the city needs me again, huh?" Jak almost chuckled through his smirk. "What else is new?"

"Veger has turned on the force fields here." The Sage explained.

Jak returned his attention to the two. "Veger's the one who attacked the palace!" He shouted, before calming down. "He said he was looking for something below… something in the catacombs."

"Well, you're just going to have to find whatever it is before he does." Samos told him, "But first, you'll need to find another way into this section of the city. Take the sewers into the port, then find a way north to reach us."

Samos noticed that Jak was still crossed. Who could blame him, the poor boy that he'd considered a son had only saved the city just to be kicked out of it. He had every reason to be distrusting, he just wished that it wouldn't be with the two of them.

Jak nodded and began to walk away. "And Jak," His mentor called out to him. The young warrior turned to his mentor who looked at him with worn eyes. "We're sorry for what happened. We should have stopped Veger."

Jak's hands violently shook throughout the man's apology clearly showing he wasn't used to the subject yet. His dark form was begging to come forth with this, but his light form strongly advised against it.

"I'll stop him myself." Jak growled, clearly pissed at Veger for doing this to him and his friends.

Jak couldn't help but wonder why Kiera hadn't really talked to him throughout this brief encounter. Shouldn't she have been excited to see him again?

**~Jak~**

The Dark Maker Conflict was coming to an end, Jak had just had the creepy vision with the Dark Maker Ship when he decided to head back to Freedom League HQ.

"Okay what gives?" Jak asked grabbing the girls arm.

She turned and those deep green eyes dilated with concern. "What do you mean Jak?"

"You know exactly what I mean Kiera!" He almost shouted, turning heads of those passing by.

"Get back to work!" Kiera shouted out at the random Freedom League Soldiers who had directed their attention towards the two. Not wanting to anger their superior they quickly shuffled out of the room. She then turned back to Jak. "I have nothing to say to you."

"Really," Jak said. "Then would you mind explaining to me why you haven't given me anything since I've been back."

"Well maybe I _would_ but you're much too busy with Ashlin!" She stated.

Jak sighed. " _Kiera…"_

"Don't 'Kiera' me," She snapped back. "You know all too well that there's something going on between you two."

Jak had to stop himself from gawking at his long time friend. She knew it was true to. "Kiera, don't do this to me…" He started.

"No, Jak." She started. "You shouldn't be doing this to me. I really like you but you seem not to like me and would much rather be with that bimbo!"

"I wish you wouldn't call her that." Jak grumbled.

"But you know it's true!" She shouted. "She's nothing but a slut and all she wants to do is take you away from me!"

"That's not true!" Jak shouted back.

She laughed, it was a sad and more desperate laugh. "I see the way you two look at each other, you're lucky Torn hasn't decided to kick your ass yet, he's pretty pissed."

"Kiera, don't." He started.

"Jak, I'm done. I'm not going to compete with Ashlin anymore, so just go and be with her. I know you want to."

And like that she left, leaving Jak to stand there alone. He quickly left the room and had a little rampage with Dark Jak. Lucky for him with the war going on no one seemed to care, it was less KG death bots, Metal Heads and Dark Makers off the streets.

He thought he had lost Kiera and throughout the carnage he'd left in his wake. Throughout the bots that he had torn to bits. Throughout all of it, he thought that maybe he should take Kiera up on her offer.

**~Jak~**

When he kissed Ashlin it was more of a spur of the moment kind of thing.

He had just saved the world again and he was feeling pretty bad ass. He'd saved the world twice and hadn't gotten the real kiss he'd wanted so why not try it with Ashlin? His kisses with Kiera were always interrupted and they weren't on the best of terms right now, so why not?

Kissing Ashlin was nice at first. When they kissed her soft lips seemed to melt into his and he couldn't help but hold her closer to him. But he refrained from going any farther than that.

But as he opened his eyes the girl began to change, her cream skin slightly tanned. Her red hair changed hues to a turquoise like color and to make matters worse when she opened those emerald green eyes she began to look a lot like Kiera.

Oh shit…

He was imagining her as Kiera.

But the kiss continued and soon Ashlin was getting more into it. She thrust her tongue into his mouth and began to fight mer way into him. This isn't at all what he expected but he couldn't let her win. He thrust back, soon their tongues began to battle each other for dominance. In all honesty he should've seen this coming with how hotheaded the two of them were. But here they were strangling each other's tongues out in the hot windy desert. Soon their teeth began to lash out and there was blood as one had to have control over the other.

The kiss was nice but at the same time it was draining. One of them had to win and they both wanted that person to be them. Who would've thought it would be like this? Wasn't this stuff supposed to simply be nice?

But this is what he wanted right?

He'd wanted to be with Ashlin?

Right?

This is what he wanted…

Oh damn, how did things get to be this complicated?


	4. Chapter 3: Daxter

_3\. The day he meet Daxter was the best day of his life_

**~Jak~**

"Try to calm down."The sage said to the hysterical woman sobbing profusely. "Explain it to me once more."

Jak looked at the woman in wonder, she had curly auburn hair that seemed to bounce in delight (well Jak thought so despite her constant sobbing) she also had ocean blue eyes that were currently concealed by her ever flowing curtain of tears. He wondered what was wrong as he and Keira watched as he cried and cried as she arrived in the village.

"M-m-my my sssson…" The woman stammered. If the woman wasn't crying so much he would've laughed at the fact that she almost sounded like a snake when she said son.

"Yes?" Samos asked, he had both his hands clasped around her right one, he lightly patted his hand on her palm effectively calming the distraught woman enough for her to continue.

"The- the Jungle," She started her gasps and sobs almost making her sentences incoherent as she intensified her grip on Samos' two hands. "He- he was so quiet, too quiet… I-I sho-ve known."

"The Forbidden Jungle?" Samos gulped in fear.

"That's what it's called?"She asked.

Samos grimly nodded.

The woman began to sob loudly once again, wrenching her hand out of Samos' grasp so she could let the tears pool in her palms.

"Mam?" Samos asked. She looked up from her seemingly hopeless cry. "What is your son's name?"

"Daxter." She choked out.

"D-Daxter?" He gasped. The woman nodded.

"By the Precursors..." Samos inaudibly let out under his breath. _Daxter? She said Daxter. She couldn't possibly mean the annoying ottsle that Jak had been carrying around on his shoulder back in Haven, could she?_ If she did, then that meant that had meant they had a huge problem on their hands. Daxter was just as instrumental towards Jak's destiny as the boy himself was, probably more than Samos himself. Samos regained his composure before speaking once more. "We'll get all the men in the village to form a search party in the jungle, make sure they find the child."

Jak's eyes widened in surprise. _Surely Samos had a better idea than that? A search party might take too long and who knows what could happen to this 'Daxter' by then? No, Jak had to do something to help this boy._ Jak sprang up and ran off, his target: the Forbidden Jungle.

"Jak?" Keira called out for the boy. "Where are you going?"

Jak ignored her and continued running off.

Samos actually looked out at Jak and lightly smiled. When he sprang up from his seat, Samos was furious with the boy for doing something so foolish and reckless. But within seconds realization had washed over the sage of what was supposed to happen. This is how the two were meant to meet.

Samos then turned to the crying woman. "I can't tell you how I know mam. But I'm certain your son will come to the village safely. For now try to recompose yourself as Keira and I gather the search party."

**~Jak~**

Finally Jak was able to climb over the final step that over looked the shallow beaches that bordered the jungle. He was finally in the Forbidden Jungle.

He had always been told by Samos to "never, ever come here," but here he was, trying to save a child he had never meet.

He looked around at the jungle before him, it certainly was quite different from the village. The grass seemed to take on a darker shade and was able to prickle his feet; in the village grass was soft and didn't seem to irritate him all that much. The trees were also very different than the ones in the village; here they were overgrown with vines and had haphazardly placed leaves as if they were randomly placed. Then of course there was the stream that seemed to run throughout the whole jungle, it seemed to be a lot darker than that of the beach and as he approached it he could see tiny fish running through it; the ones that intrigued the child the most were the tiny green fish that were hardly the size of his palm; the next fish were just bigger versions of the green fish, unlike their smaller counterparts they almost appeared to be chubby with their bulging cheeks and large, luminescent, lemon colored bodies; then of course there were the sinister looking eels that almost gave off malevolent grins within their bone white faces, this of course was accompanied by their long cream colored tails that seemed to glow purple with dark eco. Other things to note about the jungle were the large rickety bridge with its half broken steps made of rotting wood that overlooked a waterfall; then of course there were the large wooden constructs that had clear crystal lens that reflected a single beam of blue eco high above the jungle; finally there was the large precursor temple that stood proud and tall in the very center of the jungle.

 _So this is the Forbidden Jungle?_ Jak thought to himself as he continued to survey the new land, picking out all the flora and fauna that seemed to be everywhere. He didn't really understand what was so dangerous about it though.

Ignoring the task at hand the six year old had one thing in mind: exploring the gigantic Precursor temple before him. So over the river and through the wood to gran- I mean the Precursor temple he went.

Within minutes the young boy had been able to reach the temple and that's when he was able to take in all that stood before him. It stood proud and tall with its gleaming precursor metal, in fact Jak could see his reflection clearly in it. He reached out and touched the metal only to immediately retract his hand. The metal had been baking in the sun all day, of course it was hot. But of course the child had been overcome with his childish curiosity when he had done this.

 _Maybe this Daxter is lost in the temple?_ Jak thought to himself, but he knew he just wanted an excuse to explore it some more, maybe even find a way inside.

So Jak began to round the massive temple. Within seconds he found a small pathway made of the same metal that rose to a large doorway. Wanting to try anything he began to ascend to the doorway on the tiny incline. He avoided the ball of sparkling blue energy that sat in front of the doorway.

Looking at this door he learned that it was circular in shape and made up of several pieces of Precursor metal, varying in age as you could tell by how dark they were, that spiraled into each other. Above the spiraling pieces of metal was a tiny pendant with a dark blue lightning bolt. It looked as if it needed to be activated.

"Help…" A small voice whimpered.

Jak looked around, trying to find the source of the voice.

"Help… Somebody, please, help me…" The voice pleaded, getting slightly louder.

It was a much higher pitch than anything Jak had heard in the entirety of his time in the village. Though for some odd reason it was oddly familiar, he wasn't sure where he'd heard it though.

"Please…" The voice whimpered once more. "I'll do anything I don't wanna die in here. I'm just a kid."

Finally he found the source of the voice. He turned to look at the large doorway he had been observing mere seconds ago. _How'd he get in there?_ Jak wondered.

Jak pounded on the door, trying to get it open.

"Is someone there?" The voice asked.

Jak continued to try to pound on the door but nothing happens.

"Come on, you can do it!" The voice shouts, cheering him on.

Jak decides to change tactics and tries pulling apart two of the spiraling pieces of Precursor metal. But nothing comes out of his efforts.

"Come on!" The voice shouts causing Jak to jump back and fall into the blue ball of energy he had previously avoided. Immediately the blue energy jumps off of him and into the pendant above the door. The symbol then glows a brighter hue and immediately the pieces of metal retract and out falls a boy who lets out an "ah!" in surprise.

Jak looked down at himself, he had no idea what had just happened but in a way, he liked it. It was for a split second really and just as quickly as the energy was taken into his body it was gone.

As much as he would've liked to think about it some more he looked down at the child before him.

The child before him had a red outfit, not very dissimilar to Jak's own childhood outfit, and had red hair that reminded Jak of a flame. Along with this, he had ocean blue eyes and buck teeth.

The kid stood up and brushed himself off. "Phew, that was close."

Jak nodded.

"Thanks, by the way." The boy smiled. "What's your name?"

Jak nodded in response.

"Ok 'Yes,'" The other young boy replied, clearly mocking Jak. "I'm Daxter!"

Jak nodded in acknowledgement, he did a little wave to finish the greeting.

"You don't talk much do ya'?" Daxter asked the young child before him.

Jak shrugged.

"I kinda like it." Daxter commented with a smile, he then playfully poked the other child's stomach earning a laugh from Jak. "You're from Sandover Village right?"

Jak nodded in response.

"Good, 'Yes'" Daxter smiled, although Jak was slightly annoyed with the new nickname although he didn't show it. "You'll lead me to the village, then."

Jak nodded in agreement before walking off, Daxter in tow.

"Y'know maybe you could be my sidekick!" Daxter suggested to his new friend, to which Jak rolled his eyes and laughed. The two then continued their trek back to the village.

And from this day forth, one of the strongest friendships in history began to blossom. A friendship that was so great that it would save the world on several occasions and can survive even after a two year separation. Neither of them at this point could tell what they liked about the other but one thing was for sure that they seemed to like each other. As time will move on and they'll begin to change it won't matter because their friendship will last forever.

**~Jak~**

"And then I shot the metal head right in the kisseer!" A 33 year old Daxter announced from atop the living room table.

"Wow, Uncle Daxter!" The older child announced from the right side Jak's lap.

"Yeah, that's amazing!" The younger child agreed.

"Yep." Daxter nodded. "Finally, your dad who was so scared of the metal heads came out of where he was hiding and that's how we became best friends."

A clearly amused Jak chuckled. "That is not what happened, Daxter…"

"Then what did happen, daddy?" The older child asked him.

"Yeah, if that's not the story then what was it?" The younger one asked.

"Maybe Uncle Daxter will tell you next time he tells a story." Jak answered, clearly trying to avoid the question.

"Awww…" The two kids sighed in response.

"Alright, you two time for bed." Jak said. He then hauled up the two children under his arms, swinging them around, making the six and five year olds laugh with joy.

"Night, kiddies!" Daxter called to the two children.

"Good night, Uncle Daxter!" The two children called out as Jak carried them up the stairs.

**~Jak~**

"Do you really remember that day?" Jak asked the ottsle as they shared drinks late that night in Jak's dining room.

Daxter hiccupped in response before downing yet another drink. _I think that's his sixth wine glass?_ Jak wondered, but he wasn't too sure.

"Daxter!" Jak shouted, trying to get the ottsle's attention.

Daxter chuckled. "You're kidding, right? Of course I remember that day!"

"You're not just saying that to get me to change the subject, are you?" Jak asked.

"Of course not!" Daxter shouted in response. "You think I'm that stupid?"

"Where was it then?" The hero snorted.

"The Forbidden Jungle, you saved me from the blue eco door that I found myself in somehow." Daxter answered, spot on as if he wasn't drunk.

"I'm impressed." Jak smirked.

"Hey!" Daxter shouted. "How could I forget the day that I meet my best bud ever? That's like asking me if I forgot the day that I turned into an ottsle!"

Jak smirked even as he took another sip of his wine. "I'm your best friend? I thought it was Tess."

"Nah…" Daxter sighed. "I can do all kinds of things with you that I can't with Tess. Like I can scope out all the hot chicks, drink to my heart's content and of course I can climb on your shoulder and look all badass during adventures. I can't do any of that fun stuff with her."

"True." Jak agreed holding up his wine glass before taking another swig, only finishing his second wine glass.

"But still…" Daxter hiccupped once again. "I wouldn't change that day, no matter what."

"Yeah me neither." Jak looked down into his wine glass trying to hide his wide smile.

Yep, true friendship. Really does last for a long time. Of course Jak and Daxter aren't finished yet, as they'll take their friendship with them, to the day they die.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't sure whether or not to end it at the jungle scene or not. But then I decided that with last chapters ending, I decided to have a nice, happy ending. Also with Jak's kids, all I really revealed was that he had two that one is older than the other by a year, I didn't mention names, physical appearances, genders or who their mother is. That'll all come as we go along. So how'd you like that short chapter? 8 pages on word is pretty new for this fic. I'm thinking there may be 3 more chapters that'll be short, you can guess which ones. So… next chapter will be all about eco. Y'know red eco, blue eco, yellow eco, green eco, dark eco, light eco, maybe even some orange and pink ecos! Yeah I doubt those last two… But read and review!


	5. Chapter 4: Eco

_4\. Channeling the different color ecos felt incredible. He missed it._

**~Jak~**

"My son," Damas announced to the three year old that was sitting on the ground next to him. He then bent down and held the green ball of light out to the toddler. "This is eco; it is the world's life source. Anything that lives on this world thrives on it, even Metal Heads. This eco is called green eco and it is what all creatures live off of, the only creatures that do not feed off of Green eco are the Metal Heads and Precursors who feed off of dark and light ecos respectively."

The three year old Jak looked up at the green ball of light in awe.

"Yes, Mar." Damas nodded. "Eco is very intriguing." He then put the ball of light back in the canister that it was in.

"Green eco is still very common in this world along with Light and Dark eco. We use blue, red and yellow eco for different things. Blue eco is an industrial eco we use to supply power to all our electrical systems, because of that only electrical workers have access to pure blue eco. Red eco is not very common in the world and is only used in weapons and combat racing. Yellow eco is also very common and is never in its purest from –much like red eco- it is used in weapons and combat racing. We already know that green eco is used in the medical field to cure wounds that normal medicine may not be able to. Dark eco is completely dangerous and is only used to fuel the most dangerous of creatures. Light eco is a healing eco as well, it is much more powerful than green eco, the only problem is that it is completely unpredictable and certain people react to it differently that is why our doctors will only use light eco on a wound if necessary."

Jak nodded, clearly interested in learning about the different colors of eco.

"Mar, since you know that we come from the house of Mar then you should know that we come from a long line of channelers. In fact your late great grandfather was a channeler and had told me great stories of how he had used eco to best the greatest of beasts." The warrior smiled.

Jak listened intently clearly wanting to know more about eco.

"Even the great hero of legend was a channeler and he was even able to weaponize light eco as it was created by the four eco sages."

Jak wanted to know even more about this hero and eco.

Damas however didn't acknowledge this and scooped up the toddler. "Come along Mar, there are certain duties I need to attend to, I'm sure you'll enjoy spending some time with your Uncle Sig now wouldn't you?"

The child nodded in agreement. He loved how his Uncle Sig called him 'Chili Pepper.'

**~Jak~**

"But I have no idea what had happened with the child!" Kor insisted.

"I don't want to hear it, Kor! You of all people know that we need the kid alive!" Torn snapped.

Samos who was tending to the heavily injured Jak sighed. "I'm afraid that's the least of our concerns."

"What's the verdict Samos?" Torn asked.

"His wounds are too bad, I'm afraid we're going to have to administer green eco directly on the child."

"Isn't that _dangerous_?" Kor asked trying to hide his malicious grin but couldn't help but hide his bloodlust in that last word. "Think about what could happen to the child if we were to use green eco on him."

"I'm afraid we don't have a choice." Samos grimly confirmed.

Torn looked between the two before sighing. "Do what you can Samos. Just make sure we don't lose him! If word gets out that the heir to the throne died, I'm almost positive Damas will come here to kill us all."

"Right." Samos nodded. He then turned to the boy who was lying on the table unconscious, with a blood soaked bandage across his chest. It was a miracle that none of the boys vital organs hadn't been pierced but he still lost a lot of blood on the way out.

Samos nodded and began to apply green eco to the boy's body.

As this happened Jak had finally woken up to the greatest sensation he could ever feel as the eco coursed through his body. Within seconds his wounds were completely closed and he was able to sit up.

"What?" Kor asked, completely surprised that this had happened. He growled, nearly letting the true beast inside of him loose as his teeth sharpened and his eyes grew dark. "How is this possible?"

Torn gave him an odd look before he regained his composure. "I am so glad that the boy came out unharmed, you clearly are quite the healer Samos."

"It seems like we have a channeler on our hands, Torn." Samos explained.

"Really?" The commander asked.

"Yes and quite a powerful one at that," Samos nodded. "I had only conjured a handful of eco and he reacted so well to it."

"Incredible…" Kor sighed as he shook his head.

"Yeah," Torn nodded. "He could be a valuable asset to this war if it were to go on long enough."

Samos shook his head. "Such power needs to grow before it can become its full potential. Why, he may just have the potential to be as good as the hero of legend."

"Don't be ridiculous," Torn dismissed the wise man. "As incredible as his reaction to the treatment may have been he could never be that good."

**~Jak~**

His first time channeling eco was actually because of Daxter.

"Come on!" Daxter shouted from within the door.

Jak jumped back in surprise at the sudden change, this caused him to fall into the blue ball of energy he had previously avoided.

Immediately the blue energy jumped off of him and into the pendant above the door. The symbol then glowed a brighter hue and immediately the pieces of metal retract and out falls a boy who lets out an "ah!" in surprise.

Jak looked down at himself, he had no idea what had just happened but in a way, he liked it. It was for a split second really and just as quickly as the energy was taken into his body it was gone.

As much as he would've liked to think about it some more he looked down at the child before him and began the conversation that followed.

That was the first time that the boy had channeled eco and he was only five.

**~Jak~**

"I have spent my life searching for the answers that my father and my father's father have failed to find." Samos explained to the three eight year old children sitting around him. "Who were the Precursors? Why did they create the vast mono lifts that litter our planet? How did they harness eco: the life energy of the world? What was their purpose and why did they vanish? I have asked the plants, but they do not remember. The plants have asked the rocks, but the rocks do not recall."

Daxter nudged both Keira and Jak and made a circular motion with his index finger next to his ear, clearly signifying how crazy he thought Samos was. The other two children tried to contain their giggles at the boy's antics.

Samos sighed, "Even the rocks do not recall…"

"But why don't we know these things daddy?" Keira asked.

"Yeah…" Daxter asked. "Besides, all we asked was what you do as a sage and you go off into this weird speech."

Samos scoffed ignoring the redhead's question, referring to his daughter though he answered. "The Precursors have left many mysteries for man to uncover. But if we work hard enough I'm sure that we can discover them. You never know who may be the one to do reveal the truth."

Jak felt that the sage was specifically looking at him as he said that.

Samos continued. "I feel that eco will be one of the crucial components to uncovering the truth."

Jak nodded.

"Who cares?" Daxter shrugged. "I mean if these stupid precursors wanted these things to be found then wouldn't they have already have been?"

Samos actually smiled. "You're not the first person to ask me that, Daxter."

"Exactly." Daxter nodded. "Because it's stupid."

"You never know Daxter. Maybe you could find one of our world's many mysteries."

**~Jak~**

He had begun training at 10 and had been training for the past three years. However due to their resources they could only get him to use blue and green ecos.

Green eco was probably the easiest. They would give him simple injuries such as scrapped knees and cuts and see if the green eco would heal his wounds which it easily did. Whereas with blue eco they were trying to see how fast he could go when he got charged with blue eco.

Keira stopped counting as Jak meet him.

"Wow! That was five seconds, Jak!" Keira congratulated him. "Two seconds faster than your last time!"

Jak smiled he was getting a lot faster using blue eco and that was great.

Samos shook his head. "No, no, no Jak! That isn't fast enough. We want you to make that gap in three seconds, No less."

"What does it matter?" Daxter asked. "I know if I was charged up on that colorful eco stuff I know I wouldn't be able to go nearly as fast as Jak does."

Keira shook her head. "You know you can't do that Daxter."

"Yeah, I know…" Daxter sighed. "Only channelers and whatever are able to use eco in its purest form in their bodies and whatever."

"Exactly!" Samos shouted. "Jak, you need to go faster if you wish to fulfill the-"

Samos stopped. He didn't finish his sentence as he knew he shouldn't finish that sentence, he couldn't reveal anything about the children's destiny for it might ruin things.

Jak, Kiera and Daxter were confused at what the old man was referring to but didn't press the issue any further, as they knew not to question the old man while Jak was training. But still the two wondered what exactly the old man was referring to, especially Jak.

Jak knew that training with eco was incredibly important. It allowed him to do incredible things. But he always wondered why Samos was always so insistent that he learn these things. He understood that he needed to learn how to use eco, but why does he have to be so much more strict than him.

"No matter," Samos shrugged, breaking Jak out of his thoughts. "Let's get back to work. I want you to go twice as fast this time Jak!"

**~Jak~**

Training with green eco was difficult. At first Samos had just been using it to heal his own wounds but soon it came to the point of learning to heal others.

"No! No! No!" Samos shouted at the boy. "Don't be so abrupt with the flow; you have to be subtle when healing others."

Jak groaned. He was only working on a flower that had been uprooted, it wasn't that big of a deal. Sure the other five flowers he had tried had withered away within seconds but it was just flowers it's not like he was actually working on a human body.

The flower withered away once more and Jak sighed.

"No! Jak you'll never be able to do it right if you don't apply yourself!"

**~Jak~**

It was his first adventure when Jak first experienced all the different colors of eco.

**~Jak~**

Green eco. It was a quick burst of warmth that immediately soothed him, it was calming and made him feel complete. When the eco mended the scratches that he had gotten after fighting the various lurkers and made his head stop spinning it was wonderful. No need for bandages and rest like other people he could just keep moving.

Green eco was warm, healing him of all his wounds.

**~Jak~**

Blue eco. It was like a battery. When he touched a ball of blue eco he felt super charged. He could run faster, jump higher, he could do so much more than he originally could.

He didn't just get his speed and endurance enhanced he could also power different Precursor artifacts. Doors, floating platforms, launch pads-

Oh the launch pads! When he got charged up on blue eco and climbed aboard one of those pads, he was giddy with excitement as he was about to propel himself into the air. When he actually did shoot up into the sky he was so pumped up it was hard not to laugh or smile when he did that.

Blue eco was like a battery; with it he could power not only himself but Precursor Artifacts as well.

**~Jak~**

Red eco. It was much warmer than green eco. When he touched it he felt powerful. He felt strong enough to take on any Lurker that crossed his path.

Red eco made him as strong as an ox. He could push, pull and lift objects and that normally would be beyond his strength. The most durable lurkers that could usually survive a plethora of attacks from him could be taken out in a single punch. He became much more durable when he absorbed red eco, he could plow through stone walls and only come out with a few scratches when he had blue eco.

Red eco was like armor, with it he was unstoppable.

**~Jak~**

Yellow eco. When he absorbed it he was armed with more than just his fists. He was a living arsenal that could fire plumes of fire like energy right from his hands. As he continued to use yellow eco, it increased his accuracy and made him feel powerful. He actually was able to shoot at enemies from long distances rather than fight then from close range. Even on the A-Grav Zoomer he was able to shoot the eco from his hands at various things, it got him out of a number of close calls, especially in the Lava Tube.

Yellow eco was hot, it came in handy in places that were incredibly cold like the Snowy Mountain, Spider Caves, or the Boggy Swamp (which was cold due to the rains and waist high waters.) The heat was able to keep him warm in those places despite his rather clothing. It was great, it sucked however when he ran out of that energy, especially in the Snowy Mountain or the deepest parts of the Spider Caves. But never the less Yellow Eco was hot.

Yellow eco was like a weapon, it was able to give him the strength to combat his enemies in new ways.

**~Jak~**

Finally the four colors of eco erupted from the four towers around the eco silo.

"Light eco? It _does_ exist!" Gol called fearfully from the giant robot.

"They must not be allowed to get it!" Mai commanded.

"Light eco?" Daxter asked from atop his shoulder. "That could be the stuff to change me back!"

Jak glared at him. _I mean seriously, Daxter._

Daxter got the message and added. "Or… it might stop that robot."

Jak gave the ottsle a knowing smile.

"Hm… Stay fuzzy or save the world? Choices…" The ottsle sighed, clearly thinking the obvious decision through as his friend glared at him.

"Okay fine!" Daxter shouted, finally agreeing with Jak. "We'll save the world… But do it quickly before I change my mind!"

Jak quickly ran off to one of the gelatinous balls of light eco as Gol and Mia sent various bombs at them from above.

Finally when Jak touched one of the balls of light Daxter hopped off his shoulder.

When Jak touched the ball of light it imprisoned him in a wall of light. It felt wonderful, it made him feel far more powerful than anything he could've ever come up with.

Gol and Mia saw this, afraid that they'd lost Mia desperately shouted to her brother. "Do something!"

"Ha!" Jak shouted and he hurled the ball of light at the Precursor robot destroying it completely.

Light eco definitely made him feel complete. It was definitely different than the other forms of eco as well. It was amazing to have eco in its purest form inside of him and to be honest, he hadn't ever felt more alive.

Light eco was magnificent, it made him feel alive.

**~Jak~**

Within seconds of entering the new world he was captured. It was horrible… And what was worse is that he was subjected to those horrible experiments with dark eco.

The dark eco was horribly painful and he was surprised he was able to survive the excruciating pain of all the dark eco injections.

Dark eco was nothing like the other four colors. As it was injected into him it ripped him apart from the inside. The eco was chaotic and only showed him visions of torture and bloodshed. As he was chained down to that table, he couldn't move at all to relieve any of the pain or get away from those horrible needles; he had to endure the pain.

Dark eco had a voice. It told him horrible things that changed him in more ways than one. It didn't help that he was all alone and the dark one was the only one he had to talk to. It was horrible.

Dark eco was destructive, it destroyed him from the inside.

**~Jak~**

Jak shouted in pain as the dark eco was injected into him. Despite Errol being there during all the experiments it meant something that Baron Praxis had arrived to watch the injections as he had hardly done so.

Finally the dark eco began to subside.

"Dark Eco Injection Cycle Complete." A robotic voice announced from the machine. "Bio Readings nominal and unchanged."

The Baron growled. "Nothing. I was informed that this one would be different!"

"He is surprisingly resistant to your experiments, Baron Praxis." Errol stated. "I believe the Dark Warrior Program has failed."

The Baron steamed. He grabbed Jak's face and yelled at him. "You should at least be dead with all the dark eco I pumped into you."

"What now?" Errol asked. "Metal Head armies are pressing their attacks. Without a new weapon, my men cannot hold them off forever!"

"I will not be remembered as the man who lost this city to those vile creatures! Move forward with the final plan!" The Baron shouted, he then gestured to Jak, spitting on him for extra measure. "And finish this _thing_ tonight."

"As you wish." Errol bowed, before grabbing Jak's face and looked straight into his almost lifeless eyes. "I'll be back later…"

He then spit into his face like Praxis before walking away.

Of course Jak didn't hear any of this as he was too busy reaching for the bright light that was mocking him from within his mind's eye. He was about to reach for it when suddenly he heard something.

"Ding Ding. Third floor! Body chains, roach food, torture devices." The ottsle announced before he hopped on Jak's chest. "Hey buddy, you seen any heroes around here?"

Jak closed his eyes clearly not recognizing the animal yet.

But at that moment Daxter recognized him. "Woah! What they do to you?"

Jak continued to ignore him and returned to reaching for the light, he was going to get it this time.

"It's your old pal, Daxter!" He shouted actually prying open the young man's eyes. Of course he closed them again, returning to the light.

Daxter rolled his eyes. "That's a fine hello. I've been crawling around in this place, risking my tail –literally-" He grabbed his tail to show him exactly what he had meant. "To save you! I've been looking for you for two years!"

He then grabbed the boys face, now pleading with him. "Say something!" The creature yelled. "Just this once!"

He definitely had something to say. Something that had been on the dark one's mind for these two long years and over time slowly became shared by Jak as well. Never in his life had he spoke before but now that was about to change. "I'M GONNA KILL PRAXIS!"

So this is what it felt like to embrace the dark eco. It was different than the others but at the same time it felt good. Maybe he should try some more.

**~Jak~**

Finally Jak had gotten out of that horrible prison, this was his first time seeing sunlight or seeing anyone other than Errol, Praxis or any other face in two years and for a few seconds he just took it all in.

Finally a man in a blue robe with a golden pendant lying on his stomach approached them. His long white hair was flowing down and complimented his beard. In a way the man almost looked familiar. "Hello strangers. My name is Kor, may I hel-"

However Jak cut the man off and clenched the man's robe in his fist. "You look like a reasonably smart man! I want information. Where the hell am I?"

Daxter hopped off of Jak's shoulder and gestured to the small child before him. He looked familiar as well but they couldn't tell who exactly it was. The only strange thing about the boy however was the strange pendant lying on his chest. "Sorry, he's new to the whole conversation thing."

"Well…" Kor dusted off his robe as Jak finally let go of him. "My angry young friend, you are a guest of his _majesty_ Baron Praxis, the ruler of glorious Haven City."

Jak snorted. "I was just a _guest_ in the good Baron's prison."

Kor sighed. "Inside a cell or inside the city walls surround us both. We are all his prisoners!"

Kor then noticed the guards approaching them and sighed. "Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time…" He grumbled before speaking up and ushering Jak and Daxter forward. "I-I'd move on if I were you."

One of the approaching gaurds spoke up. "By order of his eminence, the grand protector of Haven City: Baron Praxis, everyone in this sector is hereby under arrest for suspicion of harboring underground fugitives. Surrender and die!"

Daxter, trying to be the rational one asked the Krimson Guard the important question on everyone's minds, "Excuse me sir… Don't you mean surrender or die?!"

"Not in this city!" Kor gasped, trying to push the child behind him protectively. "Protect us from these guards and I'll introduce you to someone who can help you."

Jak grinned maliciously. He immediately lunged for the guards taking out all the pent up anger he had been wanting to release all these years.

Normally he didn't like fighting other people, Jak actually hated it. But… the over time he had dropped that philosophy of his.

Immediately he sent a punch at the first guard, to his surprise the guard fell at his feet. He didn't expect the man to fall that quickly. Apparently he had gotten a lot stronger over the past few years.

Ignoring that he sent an uppercut at the next guard and it also crumpled to the ground, you could hear a sickening crack and Jak wasn't sure if it was the man's visor breaking or his jaw breaking.'

Soon Jak lost himself in the fighting as he threw himself into the throng of guards and within seconds he lost himself in the battle.

Within seconds something strange happened. Jak began to grow sharp teeth as his skin paled and his hair turned a silvery color. His blue eyes also went from their sky blue, to a souless obsidian with absolutely no pupils to be seen. He also gained a lot more muscle; it was noticed by Daxter as he almost fell off the young man's shoulder. **"THWA!"** He shouted out at the new change.

If he had lost himself in the fight before he was completely gone now. Despite being scared and confused he seemed to enjoy what was going on due to the animalistic grin on his face.

Within seconds it was over however and he was left panting and trying desperately to contain the power.

"That was cool!" Daxter shouted in glee. "Do it again!"

"Somethings happening to me…" Jak panted, between his heavy breaths and clenched teeth. "Something he did… I-I cant' control it…"

The first time using dark eco was difficult uncontrollable in fact. But it would take the help of an oracle for him to learn control.

**~Jak~**

Once Jak had control, using his dark form felt a lot like using red eco.

One of the few differences being that it was a lot stronger than the red eco. When he got into his dark form he was stronger than almost anything. It was his dark form that killed Kor, the destruction that it left in its path was unbelievable.

Another thing about dark eco was that it made him physically stronger as well. When he got into his dark form, Daxter had once commented that he felt the man bulk up a bit. It was true, when he got into his dark form he really did gain a lot of muscle mass.

Dark eco was also a lot more chaotic than red eco. It was like he became an animal when he turned into his dark form. He slashed and shredded through Metal Heads, Krimson Guards, KG Death Bots, anything really with ease.

It wasn't exactly the same but it was a bit calming that dark eco felt a lot like red eco. It was like he was back on Misty Island facing the largest of Lurkers.

Dark eco was way more chaotic than red eco.

**~Jak~**

His light eco form calmed him. But it was a lot different than the last time.

This time it made him feel at peace with himself. It didn't make him feel powerful or destructive like he had the original light eco or dark eco. But needless to say it was beautiful.

He was able to fly with light eco, he was astonished with what he could do with his light eco form. It was absolutely incredible.

Light eco now made him at peace with himself, it made him feel complete.

**~Jak~**

He could heal himself with light eco, it almost felt like green eco.

He could rejuvenate himself with light eco, he didn't even have to go into his light eco form to do that. He would just call upon the light from within him and he could soothe his wounds. It was much better than he could with green eco.

Light eco could heal him far better than green eco could.

**~Jak~**

Light eco, it was like blue eco in a way.

Freezing time and space. It was something new he could do thanks to the light eco in his body. Unlike with blue eco he wasn't able to increase his speed. That didn't matter at all , he was able to freeze time and go from one place to another in a matter of minutes while for others it was only a few seconds. In one moment he was in one place and in the next he was in another.

In a way light eco was like blue eco.

**~Jak~**

His scream was utterly terrifying to Daxter. The ottsle looked up at his friend as the sea of dark eco slowly turned him into his dark form. The poor ottsle could only watch as the man screamed in pain as his skin paled, his nails elongated into sharp claws, his calm blue eyes dulled until they were obsidian and completely devoid of pupils and of course he gained much more muscle. Along with that a lot of dark eco crackled around him like electricity.

Finally the slow transformation stopped and his transformed friend offered a hand down for the ottsle to climb.

Although hesitantly Daxter still climbed onto his shoulder and the two ran off.

To their surprise Jak faced a wall and chucked a large ball of dark electricity at it smashing it to smithereens.

Daxter didn't comment as his eyes widened in surprise at this.

The Dark Strike move definitely felt a lot like yellow eco just far more powerful. When he shot balls of yellow eco from his palms, it felt more like shooting fire balls. However with the dark strike it was like sending a massive ball of electricity from his two hands. It was so powerful, it was so destructive. It was actually quite amusing to watch things fall apart when it made contact.

Dark eco was far more destructive than yellow eco.

**~Jak~**

Firing light eco from his body while in his light form reminded him a lot of his first experience using light eco. He hadn't even meant to do it the first time but he needed to attack somehow and didn't have the time to turn into his dark form. He needed a way to attack and just fired away.

His light eco form was much better than just absorbing light eco.

**~Jak~**

He was able to heal others with light eco.

Samos had been trying to teach him with green eco for ages but he was never really able to do it.

But when he did it with light eco he was able to do it successfully. It just felt so natural when he did it. He was able to heal others within seconds where with green eco he hardly ever could.

He was far better with light eco than he was with green eco.

**~Jak~**

Sure he missed using the different colors of eco. But his dark and light forms were able to compensate for the loss of the different colors of eco in many different ways.

He'll never have the nostalgia of using these ecos again but he didn't mind being able to use their individual powers through dark and light eco.


	6. Chapter 5: Exposure

_5\. Kiera, Daxter and Samos were always there for him, even after being exposed to his dark form._

**~Jak~**

"My, my what are you doing there?" The man before him asked. He was a short chubby man, who had black eyes hidden behind round glasses. He had a short white beard along with a moustache that covered his mouth. He wore a plain orange shirt along with green shorts. The most peculiar thing about the man was what looked like a large rock with a log running through the middle of it on top of his head.

The young Mar was found all alone next to a trash can, it wasn't the first time that the man had seen abandoned children on the streets of Haven and he'd usually just take them to go under the care of the foster homes, even if the baron didn't exactly provide for them it was at least reasonable care for these children.

However this child before him he knew was different. It was quite obvious by the pendant on his chest.

He was the true heir to the throne, the son of Damas who had only been overthrown just three years before. Samos knew that the Baron was looking for the young Mar, Ashelin had made sure to inform Samos of all the Baron's concerns.

The young boy looked up at the young Samos Hagaii in wonder. _Who is this man? Is he dangerous?_

Samos smiled at the boy as he scooped him up. The man held Mar comfortingly. It wasn't harsh or aggressive like other adults who he had come into contact with like Count Veager, Errol, Baron Praxis or others who had tossed him around after his father's fall from power. It was comforting, as if the man didn't want any harm to be done to him, he'd only ever received that from Sig and his own father, other than that no one ever really held him. This was definitely a nice feeling, to be held and not smacked or beaten in any sort of way.

This man didn't seem to want to do any harm to him, so maybe the small child would give him a chance.

Maybe…

**~Jak~**

"The child has clearly been through a lot." Samos sighed as he cradled the sleeping four year old in his arms.

Torn looked at the young boy bearing the Seal of Mar and shrugged. "That's great Samos, you found the true heir to the throne, but he's too young. I understand that it's important but why do you want me to watch him?"

"The boy has been through a lot, Torn." Samos told him. "I feel that since you currently don't have assignments that you should be the one to do so."

"But what about my sector?" Torn asked him. "I mean yes, I don't have anything to do right now but that's because I'm waiting for our soldiers to return from spying on whatever project the Baron has been keeping so top secret recently."

"I understand that." Samos nodded. "But we need someone to keep the true heir to the throne safe."

"Perhaps I could be of assistance?" A voice asked.

Both men turned to see the man in question, he wore a blue robe and was much older than the both of them combined.

"You, Kor?" Torn asked. "You're a failed healer? How could you possibly take care of a child."

"Just trust me," The man said. "You Samos, should know that the elderly are far more capable than the youth I would be perfect for this task."

Samos looked down at the child. Samos wasn't exactly all for the idea of giving the child to Kor. He was always a shifty looking character; he was a failed healer like Torn had said; he had insisted on helping the underground but when the time came he seemed to have vanished; Samos couldn't help but notice the man's fascination with metal heads, he always seemed to seem pleased whenever he talked negatively of the vile creatures and of course the man didn't have a background, Samos had had Ashelin check but had come up with nothing. The man couldn't possibly be trusted with the child!

"Isn't there anyone else who is free?" Samos asked Torn.

Torn shook his head. "No one competent enough for this task."

"Are you quite sure?" The Shadow begged.

Torn nodded. "Ashelin wouldn't be able to handle it, she's not exactly good with kids; I'm way too busy overseeing all missions; Tess is busy trying to get a job at the Hip Hog so we can spy on Krew, if she succeeds then it probably isn't the best idea to have a child around a bar –or Krew for that matter; every other soldier is just busy."

Samos sighed, he knew he was going to regret this. "Alright Kor, you may take care of the child."

"A wise decision, Samos." Kor smirked.

Samos narrowed his eyes at the older man. "However, you must make sure that the boy doesn't have so much as a scratch on him!"

Kor gave a dark grin. "Don't worry, I promise not to lay a _finger_ on him…"

It was things like that, which made him distrust Kor. What exactly that Kor was hiding though, Samos would never know.

**~Jak~**

Kor had gone and done it, he had went and gotten the child shot. Kor had immediately brought the boy to the Underground. Samos knew he should've been the one to look over the child.

Samos looked over the child's wounds, tuning out Torn's furious shouts at the old man. The little boy who he had pulled out of the garbage only several months before was now lying in front of him in a bloody heap. However the boy's chest slightly moved up and down, he was alive! Barley.

The boy was clearly going to die and there wasn't anything they could do about it. There was only one way they could possibly save him and that was by applying green eco directly on the boy. That in itself was risky. People were very reactive to eco treatments and something like this would take A LOT of eco. Such a procedure could kill a man in perfect health. But on a child? He was sure to die if they tried.

"What's the verdict, Samos?" Torn asked, snapping him out of his daze.

Samos sighed and looked at the boy one more time. "His wounds are too bad, I'm afraid we have no choice but to administer green eco on him."

"Isn't that _dangerous_?" Kor asked trying to hide his malicious grin but couldn't help but hide his bloodlust in that last word. Finally he would be able to see "the pure gift" at work. However covering up his apparent interest, he added. "Think about what could happen to the child if we were to use green eco on him."

Samos looked at the child one more time; it wasn't going to be very long until the boy's body gave up on him. "I'm afraid we have no choice." The rebellion leader confirmed.

Torn looked between the two before sighing. "Do what you can Samos. Just make sure we don't lose him! If word gets out that the heir to the throne died, I'm almost positive Damas will come here to kill us all."

"Right." Samos nodded. He then turned to Kor, "Please go get me the green eco cartridges."

"We only have five left Samos," Torn informed him. "And we're not expecting another shipment for at least another week."

Samos nodded. "This however, is worth it. We'll only need three of them. If we're lucky, two."

Kor nodded and got the three metal boxes that had some of the purest green eco currently in existence. That was what most of the green eco left in existence was used for.

Samos held the energy in his hands, the eco as usual felt so natural to him compared to others who couldn't stand it when they made contact with any form of eco. He almost felt one with the life energy but something like that was crazy, there were very few channelers and no eco sages. He couldn't possibly let the wrong people know about this otherwise he'd end up with a bullet in his brain or worse, as part of that horrible dark warrior program he had heard about.

Putting that aside Samos went to work on the child.

The young Mar's eyes opened. All the pain that was in his body had suddenly gone away. He looked up at Samos, the green energy flowed off the man that had saved him all that time ago. He smiled at the man, who had his eyes closed in order to concentrate. The warmth of the energy being pumped into him felt so nice. He didn't even seem to notice that his wounds were closing up, it just felt nice.

The change ended all too quickly, it was too bad. But now it was over.

Little did he know, Samos saved him, it's too bad he would never remember it.

**~Jak~**

Jak was sad. Iris had just died and Jak had lost his mother. He never really remembered having a mother before and now that he's finally had her, he's lost her. It left the boy sulking for some time.

"I know it's hard, Jak." Samos sighed. He patted the boy on the back who only nodded. "But you've got to lift your spirits, look to the future, move on. It's what she would've wanted."

Jak sighed, he knew it was true, but it was hard. He missed her so much.

"You know she loved you, Jak." Samos explained. "She loved you just as much as she'd loved Kiera and I. She treated you as her own child; you were her son, Jak."

Tears welled in the boy's eyes Samos wasn't exactly making things easier.

Samos actually knelt down and hugged the child. Getting affection from Samos was a very rare occurrence.

Samos hugged him. "Death is a natural occurrence, Jak. We all go through it at some point or another and although it doesn't get any easier, the best thing to do is to just learn to move on."

Tears began to spill from Jak's eyes and Samos pulled the boy out of the embrace so that he could look at him.

"You don't have to do it alone either," Samos added. "I'm here for you, do you understand?"

Between tears Jak nodded.

Samos was always there for him though, he always did follow up on these things.

**~Jak~**

"You're a freak, you know that?" The red sage's son, Adan had asked a seven year old Jak.

Jak looked down sadly.

The boy continued. "I mean nobody knows where you came from and you don't even talk. What good are you to an eco sage if you can't talk?"

Adan was a boy a bit older than Jak by about three years, he had short silky blonde hair and wore a red tunic that went into a small breast plate and dark red pants.

Although the yellow and blue sages didn't have children of their own the red sage did. Samos and the Red Sage didn't see the need for Jak, Kiera, Daxter and Adan to interact though and because of that they left it alone.

Jak happened to be in the room when Samos had been talking to the Red Sage and Adan. Samos and the Red Sage had left using the teleport ring to see the Blue Sage leaving Jak and Artur alone. Quickly getting bored the boy fell to picking on Jak as a source of entertainment.

"Hey you listening mum boy?" The boy asked Jak.

Jak sighed but nodded.

Adan laughed. "Don't even make a sound. But obviously you can't!"

Jak looked away from the boy.

"Maybe you can't talk because you're so dumb!" Artur laughed.

"What was that?" A new voice asked.

"Who are you?" Adan asked.

The familiar red headed boy walked into the hut. "I'm Daxter, I'm Jak's best friend."

"Clearly you have bad tastes." The boy laughed.

Jak didn't dare make a move.

"Maybe it's you who has bad tastes." The seven year old spat at him. "Picking on a kid so much younger than you? That's pretty bad if you as me."

"Are you gonna talk to me like that, pipsqueak?" Adan glowered at Daxter.

"Yeah, I am!" Daxter snapped back the boy. "And I wouldn't lay a finger on me if I were you. Old greeny may not like me all that much but you think Papa Red is gonna like it if he finds out he's not gonna be happy."

Adan growled and tried to give a response, but fell short.

Daxter strutted over to Jak, "Come on Jak, let's get outta here and leave Little Red Riding Hood to think about it; if he's even smart enough to come up with anything that is."

Jak smiled and walked out of the room with Daxter.

Adan was left speechless.

There were very few times where Jak was weak but in the few times that he actually was it was a good thing Daxter was always there for him. He never actually did thank Daxter for this day, but then again he didn't actually need to, Daxter knew he appreciated it.

**~Jak~**

"You know Jak, he's not exactly wrong." Keira said to Jak.

Jak huffed, he knew Keira was right for saying Samos was right but that didn't mean he wasn't mad.

Keira huffed. "I know it's hard but that's just the truth Jak."

Jak sighed, he looked away from her.

Samos had just told him that in order for Jak to truly embrace his true potential that he's going to have to distance himself from Daxter and Kiera for some time and learn to channel eco with him. Needless to say the distancing from his friends didn't exactly thrill Jak and that's what caused him to storm off.

Kiera put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "It's nice that you don't want to spend some time away from us, Jak. But at the same time I think this'll be good for you."

Jak looked at her skeptically.

"Come on, Jak!" Keira insisted. "It would be so cool if you became a professional channeler! Don't let Daxter and I get in the way of that."

Jak shrugged.

"You know that I'll stand by you no matter what, Jak." Keira said. "You know that, right?"

Jak nodded.

"Good, now you know you don't have to do this today. It could be tomorrow, it could be next month or it could be years from now but at some point you know that you totally should." Keira explained

Jak smiled.

"That's what I like to see." Keira smiled back.

It wasn't another two years until Jak had actually gone on that trip with Samos.

**~Jak~**

A nine year old Jak was in his Uncle's hut looking at himself in the makeshift mirror with Daxter sitting on the bed behind him. He looked at his blonde hair that had been growing upwards. But what began to worry him was that there was a slight green tint developing at the roots.

"Well that's a little funky." Daxter said looking at the boy's hair. He got off the bed and stood next to his friend. "It's kinda weird. But whoever said you were normal, Jak?"

This made the boy smile at his redheaded friend.

"Besides," Daxter continued. "It looks really good on you."

Jak smiled at Daxter who smirked. "Besides the Sage said that when you would start to channel the colorful eco stuff that you would experience some sort of physical change, looks like it's the green tint in your hair."

Jak nodded in understanding. Though eco had given him a slight mutation his friend was able to look past that and actually made him feel good about it.

"Let's go Jak!" Daxter called from the door. "I'm hungry and your Uncle's making cookies."

Although it annoyed his Uncle that Daxter called his crumpets cookies it amused Jak. Daxter knew when to help when needed. Jak smiled at this and followed his friend out the door.

**~Jak~**

Jak shoved the plant away from him, it was the third time that he had failed in healing with green eco that day.

Samos patted the boy on the back. "It's okay Jak, learning these things takes time. I remember when I had first learned to channel eco; I had had the most trouble with yellow eco. Everybody who channels eco has trouble with at least one of the colors."

Jak nodded.

Samas gave the boy a sad smile. "I know I've been hard on you with these things, Jak. And I'm really sorry for that; it's just that I know that you can be a great eco channeler."

Jak nodded, it made him feel good when Samos said that he believed in him.

Samos of course had meant every word of what he said. He knew that Jak would actually become one of the best channelers there ever was only to lose that to the darkness that would come into his future.

"I know that when you have trouble with green eco, I get really mad." Samos admitted. "It's just that I really like you, my boy. You're like a son to me and because of that, I want to see the best in you. When you first started to channel eco it excited me and I was hoping that you'd be a natural when it came to green."

Jak smiled, it was nice to hear this from Samos.

"Don't worry, though." Samos insisted. "No matter what I know you'll be able to do it, and I'll be with you every step of the way to make sure you become the best channeler you can be."

The eleven year old beamed at this and with that the two got back to work making an effort to master the healing eco.

**~Jak~**

Thirteen year olds Jak and Keira were out on the roof of Samos' hut looking at the stars once again,

"You ever think we're gonna grow up and leave Sandover?" Keira asked him.

Jak looked at her surprised.

Keira just shrugged. "You know Jak, going out and see the world just me, you, daddy and Daxter out having an adventure."

Jak smiled, it would be pretty fun to have an adventure with the people he cared most about in life. He would have a blast. The mere thought of it made Jak itch with excitement.

"There's that smile." Keira smirked as she snuck a glance at the boy.

Jak chuckled, Keira always did try to make sure that he was happy. It'd always been something so natural between them for Keira to look out for him in that way. There were times when the young boy's happiness seemed to be the upmost importance to the girl.

"The four of us would be able to handle anything the world could throw at us!" Keira explained.

Jak eagerly nodded from where he lay.

Keira sat up and looked at Jak. Jak sat up in response.

"I just hope that no matter what, we always stay together; that we'll always be there for each other no matter what." Keira said. "That's all I want Jak."

Jak nodded and looked back up at the stars. Somehow he knew he was always gonna be with his friends.

**~Jak~**

"That was cool!" Daxter exclaimed, the biggest grin on his face as he took in what just happened. He then turned to Jak and insisted that he 'do it again.'

"Something's happening to me…" Jak panted as he reverted back to his original form. His body was on the verge of collapsing as it violently shook in an attempt to keep from literally falling apart. His eyes also sporadically flashed between their full blue and empty obsidian as the dark form eagerly wished to show its face once more. "Something he did…"

His body finally stopped shaking and his eyes managed to sustain its blue color as he clenched a fist in frustration before he turned to Daxter and sighed. "I can't control it…"

Kor smirked, _this is definitely something I can use,_ he thought to himself before addressing the young man before him. "Very impressive."

Daxter finally got out of his excitement and turned to his friend. Jak still had his eyes closed in hopes of reaching a self reassurance that the beast he had turned into was no longer present. "You okay, Jak?"

Jak turned to answer Daxter only for Kor to interrupt.

"What you just did was very brave!" Kor complimented the resent escapee. "This child is important!"

"This kid?" Daxter chuckled as he poked the kid in the stomach only for him to flinch. "He looks kinda scruffy."

A Krimzon Guard then flew by on a Hellcat Cruiser. "You are in a restricted zone, move along." The guard instructed them before flying away.

"Thank you for your help!" Kor exclaimed. "But I must get this boy to safety."

As Kor was speaking the child nudged Jak's leg only for him to shoo the boy away.

"Hey!" Daxter shouted. "What about us?"

Kor gave a small smile before he continued. "There is an underground group waging war against Baron Praxis. Its leader: _The Shadow_ could use fighters like you. Go to the slums, find a dead end in the alley near the wall. Ask for Torn, he can help you."

"Let's go, Dax." Jak said, waving the ottsle forward.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm comin'" The ottsle rolled his eyes before climbing up his friend's body and onto his shoulder.

Jak still shuddered a bit at the ottsle's first touch, but quickly got used to it and felt natural once again. He hated that Baron made the ottsle's initial touch on his body feel like a threat but at least it didn't last all that long.

After commandeering a ride for themselves Jak and Daxter began to fly towards the slums using the zoomer's built in map of the city, that Daxter was able to explain to Jak how to use.

After a bit of silence Daxter finally spoke up. "So Jak, what was that big dark scary guy that you turned into back there with those guards?"

Jak sighed. He knew the conversation was coming but he was hoping that he wouldn't have to talk about it for a while. "To be honest, I don't really know Dax."

"What do you mean, Jak?" The ottsle asked him.

Jak shook his head. "When the Baron imprisoned me over the past few years he had used me and had started using dark eco on me. He had injected it straight into my body for the past two years."

"The Dark Warrior Program." Daxter stated.

Jak looked at Daxter surprised.

"A guy I meet, some big official that's close with the Baron had mentioned it." Daxter explained.

Jak nodded, trying to focus on the upper hover zone of Haven City as he tried not to let the past two years flash before his eyes again.

Daxter's ears drooped, for once he wasn't as lively as he usually was. "I'm really sorry, Jak. It must've been terrible for you."

It really meant a lot to him that Daxter had said that but he just didn't know how to respond. He just sighed as he moved the zoomer back into the lower hover zone and parked the vehicle.

"Come on Dax," Jak said darkly. "We're here."

And like that Jak hopped off the zoomer and into a street corner that he would soon become a frequent place of visit.

Daxter wanted to say something but decided to stay quiet.

**~Jak~**

"I'm not the guy you knew before, Daxter." Jak huffed.

Dark Jak had come out again and the unlucky few happened to be a group of Metal Heads in the Pumping Station. He violently shook as he stood in the pool of blood and dark eco; he was utterly terrified at what he had just done.

"Come on, Jak." Daxter insisted. "You don't mean that."

"I do." Jak sighed. "This thing inside of me, it's changed me in ways I can't even explain. It's tearing me apart from both the inside and out."

Daxter shook his head, "Come on buddy, you don't mean that. So the big guy went a little far this time? He always does, it's nothing new."

Jak shook his head. The purple electricity slightly crackling at his finger tips. He stared at it in fear. "It just keeps getting worse and worse. I may just loose myself to this and soon, you may get hurt or Torn or someone else in the Underground."

"That won't happen, Jak." Daxter reassured his friend. "If I know one thing about you Jak, I know that you're a tough guy. I know some stupid little dark thing inside of you is not going to change that. You're going to beat this thing and I'll be with you every step of the way."

"No, you should run Dax." Jak insisted. "This thing is going to hurt you one day or worse."

Daxter shook his head. "I'm not leaving no matter what, Jak. I'm stayin' right here and you're not gonna change that."

"Change," Jak laughed. "That's all that's gonna keep happening to me."

Daxter laughed. "You're still the same guy Jak! What I see in you today in Haven isn't all that different from what I saw in you back when we were kids in Sandover."

Jak looked at Daxter skeptically.

"You could start farting rainbows as a sparkling yackow and I'd still like ya' Jak." Daxter said. "Ya' know nothin's gonna change that."

Jak gave Daxter a small smile.

"So come on Jak, let's get outta here." Daxter insisted.

Jak gave Daxter a smile, the first real one Daxter had actually seen from Jak. The smile mirrored the ones that Daxter was familiar with in its wideness and fearlessness but at the same time there was the new bravery and maturity in it as well.

And this was the first time that Jak really realized that Daxter would always be by his side. No matter what, he'll always be there even with this thing inside of him.

**~Jak~**

Despite everything that happened with the Tomb of Mar fiasco, Jak was happy to have his Samos back. It's true that the man's first reaction to him wasn't great.

Samos saw it immediately. That shouldn't have surprised Jak as much as it did, neither the bluntness of it or the fact that he was able to figure it out.

" _Great yackow bones, what happened to you Jak?!"_ The man had asked with just one look at him.

Jak knew that Samos could sense his dark form. He didn't know what to make of that fact. But they were able to talk as if nothing had changed, Jak never tried to bring up his dark form. Samos had tried to converse with Jak about it but Jak had always found a way to divert the conversation to another topic or leave all together.

But now Samos had seen Dark Jak in action. Now he knew he couldn't avoid the inevitable discussion.

"Now Jak," Samos started. "It's about time we discuss your dark form."

Jak sighed. "Samos I-"

"No Jak," Samos shook his head. "We both know that this is something we've needed to talk about this for a while now. I only didn't talk about it with you because I knew you weren't yet comfortable enough to discuss it. I understood it was a vulnerable topic for you. But now that I've seen what this thing can do, what it did to those guards! I know now that we have to talk whether you're ready or not, Jak."

"I know you hate it," Jak sighed, "But there's nothing I can do about it. No matter how hard I try I can't control it."

"I am well aware of that." Samos stated. "Dark Eco is often able to corrupt even the purest of hearts. Look at what it did to Gol and Maia, the two of them were probably some of the most caring people I had ever meet and Gol was so devoted to his science over anything else. But too much of it made them want to destroy the planet!"

"So?" Jak asked him.

"What I'm trying to tell you is that, I understand that you cannot control this being inside of you." Samos explained. "I am very well aware of the experimenting that had been done on you, Jak. It's such an extreme that after hearing about it, even I was shocked that you hadn't died and I know full well of your channeling abilities."

Jak rolled his eyes. "I'm lucky. You're not the only one who's said that to me. Hell, even Praxis and Errol have said it."

"I see." Samos huffed. "Frankly speaking, those animals are terrible for doing this to you!"

Jak nodded. "I know that and I want revenge."

Samos shook his head disapprovingly. "That's not the way to go about this Jak. You should leave them alone. The Precursors have ways of dealing with the bad men and women of this world."

"The Precursors." Jak laughed. "Come on, Samos. Look at Praxis, if we don't do something to him then he's going to continue living the way he does while the city rots. The Precursors left us to fend for ourselves a long time ago and you know that!"

"First of all, do not question the creators of this universe!" Samos shouted. "Though they vanished long ago they are still closely watching over this planet and all the others! Besides, I meant that you should not have a personal vendetta against the man! Do you really think that I wouldn't go after him, because clearly I would. The man you know as The Shadow proves that what I'm telling you is crucial for you cannot let your hate for this man consume you."

Jak sighed, Samos was right but that didn't make it any easier for him to take in.

"But back to the matter at hand, I am able to accept your dark form." Samos admitted. "I understand that the baron had done those terrible things to you and I understand what you're going through. Though not to this extreme, I have seen it happen several times before and to be honest I'm less afraid of that thing than I am of loosing you to it."

Jak nodded.

Samos took off his glasses and sighed. "I've seen terrible things happen to people who have been in too much contact with Dark Eco. It's a terribly frightening thing to witness and with some of the monsters that I've seen people become, it's quite concerning to see this happen to you."

Jak huffed, Samos definitely was scaring him. _Was he suggesting that they would put him down if Dark Jak went too far? By what Samos was saying it's not like the old man hadn't done it before._

"But I know you're strong Jak." The old man smiled. "All I ask is that you be careful and try and think about the things you do. **Make sure to keep your anger in check!** But also know that, I will always be by your side Jak."

Jak gave the man a small smile. "Thank you Samos."

"Any time." The old man returned the boy's smile.

**~Jak~**

" _People say you get angry and change…"_

Those words that Keira had said to him had been running through his mind quite often as of recent. Although the stung when she had first said them, he thought he had gotten over it.

He was wrong.

She had said those words over a month ago and although at first it didn't bother him all that much it did now. It sucked. With all that was going on: his dark form eating at him from the inside; the war waging against Baron Praxis; the seemingly random tasks that Torn, Krew and various others gave him whenever they felt like. With all the things on Jak's plate it just seemed like way too much for him to handle.

"You okay Jak?" Daxter asked as they flew through the city on a Zoomer.

Jak shook his head. "Just tired."

Daxter rolled his eyes. "Come on Jak, you know I can tell when you're lyin'."

Jak sighed, he knew he couldn't fool Daxter. "It's getting to me again."

"Could ya' be a little more specific?" Daxter asked. Jak gave him a confused look before Daxter added. "Sorry man, but ya' just got a lot a' issues."

Jak raised an eyebrow as Daxter who chuckled. "What Keira said about me changing." Jak confirmed.

"That again?" Daxter asked. "Come on Jak, that was more than a month ago!"

"I know." Jak sighed. "Lots of people call me a freak and it doesn't bother me. I don't understand why this is getting to me."

"Maybe because it's her?" Daxter suggested.

Jak shook his head. "Don't be ridiculous. Keira and I are just good friends."

Daxter laughed. "Really buddy? Ya' sure that's true."

"Yes." Jak huffed. "Besides she's with Errol now. I wouldn't want to get in the way of their _happiness_."

Jak's dark form was coming out, his gaze darkened as he stared ahead and his skin slightly paling.

"Easy buddy…" Daxter attempted to soothe the warrior. "Errol and Keira are just friends, remember? Keira told us."

Jak rolled his eyes. "Did you really believe that?"

"I trust her." Daxter insisted. "Don't you?"

"Of course I do." Jak said. "It's just this Errol thing and her being afraid of it –being afraid of me, it's scary."

"You can't possibly believe that." Daxter gaped at his friend. "You know Keira would never be afraid of you. After all those years together, come on Jak…"

"I-"

"HELP!" A voice cried out.

Jak immediately recognized it. "Keira!?"

"It came from outside the wall!" Daxter said. "In Deadtown!"

Jak jumped off the zoomer and landed right in front of the gate leading to the ruins.

"Come on, come on, come on…" Daxter stammered as if repeating those two words would make it go any faster.

Finally it opened and they were inside Dead Town.

"KEIRA!" Jak shouted.

The girl screamed in response.

Jak ran after the screams, making sure to take out the jetboard to increase his speed.

Eventually he came to the source of the screams and it wasn't pretty.

Keira was on top of a structure she had managed to climb up, the structure was surrounded by four metal heads. All of them jumping and snapping towards their prey.

"KEIRA!" Jak shouted.

Keira looked towards the warrior. "Jak, help!" She pleaded.

Jak looked at the creatures: it would take too long to shoot them down, she may just fall during that time; good old fashioned fisticuffs wouldn't do it, Jak would be too focused on one or two creatures while the others could attempt to get at her. The best option seemed like his dark form, but what would be the consequences of doing so? She didn't like his dark form all that much, she said it scared her. Not only that, but what would happen if it decided to take her out.

He had no choice, he was going to have to use his dark form. It was the best way out of the situation and he just had to hope that he would be able to regain his consciousness once he saved her.

Jak called forward the darkness within him. Immediately he gained a lot more muscle tone. His skin paled to a sickly grey and all the color drained from his eyes leaving them soulless obsidian that was devoid of any pupils. His hair lightened into a silvery color and his nails lengthened into long, razor sharp claws. Topping off the transformation, just crowning through his long silver hair were long horns not to dissimilar to the ones of a yackow.

"THWA!" The beast snarled.

Keira's eyes widened in surprise. "Jak…" The girl gaped.

Dark Jak immediately lunged towards one of the first metal heads. He stuck his claws into the creatures stomach causing its eyes to widen and a yelp to escape from the monster's mouth.

The dark warrior then pulled his claws out of the monster. He then went and slammed the monster on the head, a bit of eco escaping from his fist as it connected. The Metal Head fell to the ground and exploded into dark eco when its skull cracked open as soon as it hit the crumbling ground.

Jak then turned and glared down the other three monsters as they still attempted to reach Keira.

Keira was watching all of this in complete shock.

Dark Jak then went to two of the monsters and slammed their heads against each other.

The Metal Heads let out their own shrieks of pain but Dark Jak ignored them as he continued to repeatedly slam the heads of the two beast's heads together until their skulls collapsed into each other and dissolved into dark eco. The eco dripped off his claws as he gave a malicious, sharp toothed grin.

Keira gasped at this, she'd never ever seen Jak like this before. It was terrifying.

She didn't have time to contemplate it any more as the structure she was standing on crumbled beneath her. She fell to the ground and faced the metal head in front of her.

"Jaaaaak!" She called out to the warrior.

The dark warrior turned and saw the metal head approaching the girl.

He let out a war cry and charged towards the creature, he grabbed the lizard like creature by the tail and flung it towards the murky waters.

The creature was able to get up and attempted to charge towards Jak. Jak however didn't give it the chance as he lunged for the creature and grabbed it by the neck. He shoved the creatures neck into the water and squeezed tightly as he enjoyed the creature's suffocation. It eventually dissolved into dark eco which Dark Jak took pleasure in collectiong.

Dark Jak panted as he tried to regain his bearings. Jak had tried to return to control but his dark form was too strong.

 _ **So much carnage…**_ Dark Jak stated. _**I must have more!**_

 _Get out of here!_ Jak shouted at the creature from within his mind. _You've gotten your fill and now you should be satisfied._

The creature laughed. _**Are you kidding me? Why leave when it's just getting interesting!**_

"Jak?" Keira called out.

Dark Jak turned to her. His eyes slightly softened but at the same time the same malevolent grin continued to plaster itself on his face.

_**Perhaps I should take out my anger on another life form. Your precious Keira for example!** _

Dark Jak began marching towards the girl. She looked wide eyed in fear.

"Jak…?" Daxter tried to call out to his friend. "Come on buddy, you can turn back now."

 _Don't you touch her!_ Jak shouted at the creature.

Jak marched towards Keira. The girl shivered in fear.

"Jak, what's happened?" She asked him.

Jak wordlessly walked towards her.

"Jak, stop!" Daxter shouted.

Jak reared back his claws.

Jak desperately tried to regain control. In one last mental force he shouted at Dark Jak. _Leave-_

His skin tanned and the claws and horns retreated back inside his head and hand respectively.

"HER ALONE!" He shouted just stopping his hand inches away from her face.

Daxter hopped off his friend's shoulder so he could get a good look at him. Daxter sighed in relief when he saw Jak was really back.

"You okay buddy?" Daxter asked. "Cut things a little close there that time."

Keira reached out to Jak. "Jak-"

Jak didn't answer he just turned away from her and ran. After what he'd done to those metal heads, what he'd almost done to her. He knew that she would hate her forever.

Keira held back a few tears. "You saved me…"

"Jak, where ya' goin?" Daxter shouted. "You're my ride around this city, where am I supposed ta' go!"

**~Jak~**

"What were you doing out there in Dead Town?" Jak asked her. It was a couple of days after the incident. Daxter had insisted that he talk to Keira while he hung out at the Naughty Ottsle with Tess. Jak –although begrudgingly- agreed.

Keira sighed. "You'd told me about daddy's hut in dead town. I wanted to get a look for myself."

"It's too dangerous out there." Jak chastised the girl. "You could've gotten hurt."

Keira rolled her eyes. "Daddy already lectured me about it earlier Jak, so save your breath."

Jak growled. "Keira, this is serious, don't you know how dangerous it is out there? It's already bad enough here in the city with all the Krimzon Guards around but out there!? In the Pumping Station and other areas outside the city you're going to get hurt."

"Well you go outside all the time!" Keira shouted at him. "What makes it so bad for me?"

Jak sighed. "It's different for me."

"Yeah, well if we all had some weird thing living inside of us we'd all be able to get out!" Keira yelled at him.

"DON'T TALK ABOUT HIM!" Jak yelled at the girl, his clenched fists trying to get the dark eco to stop sparkling with the dark energy. Finally once they did, he turned away from Keira and huffed. "He has nothing to do with this."

Keira's eyes softened. "But it does, Jak."

She tentatively put a hand on the young man's shoulder that he immediately shook off.

"No, it doesn't." Jak scowled. "Besides, you don't actually care. You're just scared of him, anyways. You're scared of me!"

"No I'm not!" Keira insisted. "I had heard things. I didn't know what to think!"

Jak gave a dark chuckle. "And when you actually saw him in action?"

"I was scared." Keira admitted. "When you had become that thing, I saw you as one in the same. I thought you had turned into a monster."

"Exactly!" Jak shouted. "You and everyone else in this city think I'm a freak."

"No, I don't." Keira stated. "When that thing was ready to attack me I was so afraid. But then you came out, you shouted those words."

"So?" Jak asked.

"When you shouted those words, it was almost as if you were brought out of a conversation with someone." Keira explained. "Daxter talked to me about it and after some thinking I soon realized that you and this thing are two entirely different things."

Jak turned back to her slightly surprised by that. Keira was smart but he hadn't expected her to make the correct conclusion about Dark Jak. No one else had except for Samos.

Keira gave her friend a sad smile. "I know that this thing has some sort of control over you. But you're stronger than it. You proved that when you came out before that horrible monster could do something to hurt me."

Jak sighed. "I-"

"No, let me finish." Keira insisted.

Jak nodded and allowed her to finish.

"I'm sorry I didn't see that before, Jak." Keira sighed. "I know you have a serious problem with this thing but no matter what, I'm here for you every step of the way."

Jak hugged the girl.

"Thank you." He added.

Keira smiled. "Of course, you're my best friend."

"Well seems like you two lovebirds are back together!" That same irritably annoying voice quipped.

Daxter and Tess walked into the garage both with knowing grins on their faces.

Jak and Keira quickly got off of each other.

Jak rubbed the back of his head. "We were just…"

"I was…" Keira added.

Daxter laughed. "Calm down guys, I know what's goin' on."

Jak glared at the ottsle but he only kept that same grin on his face. _Oh Daxter…_

"Anywho…" Daxter continued. "Jak, we've gotta go. Krew's got another stupid mission for us and I don't wanna get old tub of butter pissed off."

Jak smirked. "Alright, let's go Dax."

Jak left with a smile that day. Even Keira was able to acknowledge that his dark form wasn't his fault. On that day, their friendship blossomed into what it once was before. They were finally able to make amends. It was wonderful.

**~Jak~**

Daxter.

Samos.

Keira.

The people that had always been by his side. The people that had always cared about him. While others simply rejected him for his dark form or made some sort of use of it, they had accepted it.

They were still able to be his friend and he appreciated that.

He appreciated Daxter for always standing by his side –well on his shoulder- no matter what.

He appreciated Keira for always looking out for him and always caring about his well being.

He appreciated Samos for caring for him as if he was his own son.

They would always be there for Jak and he would be able to return the favor on countless occasions.

Even in the lowest point of his life his friends were still able to love him and for that he loved them.


End file.
